March: Running on empty – property market momentum stalls as petrol prices bite into budgets

The New Zealand Property Report

Key figures

• 12,055 new listings hit the market in March compared to 12,252 in February
• National average asking price sits idle with 0.5% year-on-year increase to $859,683
• Southland’s stock levels drop 20.7% year-on-year

Sellers have put their foot on the brakes, latest data from realestate.co.nz shows.

After gaining momentum in February, the property market sat idle in March with just a 0.2% increase in new listings year-on-year and a 1.6% drop on the previous month.

Vanessa Williams, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz says while the geopolitical climate and current economic uncertainty is influencing buyer behaviour, it’s also creating an opportunity for those ready to act.

After a strong start to the year, March has shown a slight easing in market activity, which is to be expected given rising fuel costs and the ongoing war. But, for those in a position to move, there’s a real opportunity here to secure property, with stock still available and less competition in the market.

Only four regions saw year-on-year double digit growth in new listings in March.

• Gisborne’s new listings increased 19.2% year-on-year from 52 properties in March 2025 to 62 in March 2026.
• Taranaki saw a year-on-year increase of 16.7% up from 234 to 273 new listings.
• Coromandel also recorded an increase of 15.1% (from 126 properties in March 2025 to 145 in March 2026)
• Central Otago / Lakes District’s new listings were up 11.1% (from 226 to 251).

At the other end of the scale, two regions recorded a double-digit decline: Northland’s new listings were down 14.9% year-on-year from 397 to 338, while the West Coast experienced a 19.5% decline with just 66 new listings (down from 82) - the region’s lowest ever March.

Despite sellers pressing pause, active users to realestate.co.nz were up 19.9% year-on-year during March, suggesting Kiwis are still actively browsing.

Sitting idle – national average asking price remains stable at 0.5% year-on-year

Nationally, the average asking price remained stable in March, up 0.5% year-on-year to $859,683. However, more variation was seen across the motu.

Four regions recorded double digit year-on-year growth in average asking prices with Gisborne out in front with an increase of 22.8% up from $547,543 in March 2025 to $672,328 in March 2026.

The other three regions that recorded double digit year-on-year growth in average asking prices also recorded March highs:

• Coromandel's average asking price increased 13.7% from $1,023,634 to $1,164,168
• Central Otago/Lakes District’s average asking price increased 13.6% from $1,458,709 to $1,657,694
• West Coast’s average asking price increased 11.0% from $484,990 to $538,211.

Southland also recorded a March average asking price high, despite only increasing year-on-year by 1.8% ($548,225, up from $538,670 in March 2025).

Of all 19 regions, Wairarapa saw the biggest drop. Down 5.6% from $734,072 in March 2025 to $693,330 in March 2026, it was the only region to decline more than 5% year-on-year.

Williams says the national average asking price has now been flat for well over three years. The average asking price in March 2023 was $856,276 – just $3,407 less than last month.

Stock levels still offer choice for buyers who can tolerate the uncertainty

National stock levels were up 2.1% year-on-year in March 2026 to over 37,500 properties - a level not seen during the month of March since 2015. Regionally, 12 of 19 regions saw stock lift year-on-year, led by Gisborne which recorded an increase of 16.4%.

Southland bucked the trend with stock levels dropping 20.7% year-on-year to 510 from 643 last March. This also meant Southland maintained its title as the region with the largest year-on-year drop for the last nine months now.

We may have seen sellers hit pause on listing last month, but for buyers searching for the perfect property, it is still a good time to be looking with lots of options on the market.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Hannah Franklin | hannah@realestate.co.nz

Want more property insights?

• Market Insights: Search by suburb to see median sale prices, popular property types and trends over time.
• Switch your search to Sold to browse all residential properties that have sold — not just recent sales. See the most recent sale price and estimated current market value.