Just 0.9 per cent of Invercargill homes resold from July to September fetched less than the seller paid, the lowest rate of any centre named in Cotality's Pain and Gain report, released on Thursday.
Across New Zealand, 15.8 per cent of homes resold in the September quarter went for a loss. That is the highest share since the third quarter of 2012, the property data firm said.
Invercargill's figure was down from 2.3 per cent in the June quarter, the report shows.
Where Invercargill sellers did lose money, the median loss was $10,000, and losses across the city totalled $20,000 for the quarter. The national median loss was $60,000.
Invercargill owners who sold at a gain made a median $244,500. Their gains added up to $52.2 million over the three months.
The report says resellers in the key South Island centres stayed in a fairly solid position in the quarter. It adds that resale results across most of Southland, Otago, Canterbury and the West Coast have been better of late.
Elsewhere in the south, 5.5 per cent of Queenstown Lakes resales were made at a loss, up from 4.3 per cent, and the median gain there was $502,500.
In Nelson the share of loss-making sales rose from 10.5 per cent to 20 per cent. Cotality said that jump owed more to a wider fall in sales than to a big rise in the number of losses.
Among the main centres, Dunedin recorded 6.9 per cent and Christchurch 7.5 per cent. Auckland was weakest at 25.5 per cent, followed by Wellington at 20.4 per cent and Hamilton at 19.1 per cent.
Nationally, 84.2 per cent of resales were made at a gross profit. The median gain was $270,000. At the market's peak, in the final three months of 2021, it reached $440,000.
How long people had owned a home made a big difference. Homes sold at a gain had been held for a median 10.4 years, against 4.5 years for those sold at a loss.
Recent buyers had generally been hit harder by the downturn, said Kelvin Davidson, chief property economist at Cotality NZ.
"Most buyers would not have purchased with the intention of selling again so soon, but circumstances might have worked against them, such as a family or job change, or financial strain brought on by previously sharp rises in mortgage rates," Mr Davidson said.
Standalone houses were resold at a loss 13.4 per cent of the time nationally, up from 11.4 per cent in the June quarter. The rate was 22.5 per cent for townhouses and 48 per cent for apartments.
Mr Davidson said the decline in resale conditions had been gradual, and more than four in five resellers were still making a gross profit.
"Overall, the latest figures are not a sign of a fresh collapse," he said.
What happens next
The report covers homes resold between 1 July and 30 September 2026 and leaves out leasehold properties. It compares each home's latest sale price with the price it last sold for.
The full report, with figures for other centres and for investors and owner-occupiers, is on Cotality's website, cotality.com/nz/insights.
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