While national house sales were down just 3.8% on a year to 5978, when comparing May to June, sales numbers plunged almost 20%, from 7439 homes to 5978.
Otago sales volumes for June were up 2.8% on a year ago to 333, however, compared to a month earlier, numbers slumped almost 30%, from 473 in May to 333 for June.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell said the number of properties sold in New Zealand during June was the lowest for the month of June in five years, which included record-low listings for Southland and the West Coast.
"Feedback from parts of the country is that some people are reluctant to list their property for sale without somewhere to move to and with fewer listings coming on to the market, it's slowing down the property cycle and impacting sales volumes," she said.
REINZ regional commentator Liz Nidd said Otago reached a low level of property inventory, which was sitting at 418, the previous low having been 430.
"Prices are strong and supply is at an all time low which is putting pressure on demand," Mrs Nidd said.
ASB senior economist Mike Jones said June's flicker of life, with house sales up 3% on a month earlier, helped reaffirm ASB's view of a modest pick-up in the housing market from here.
"There are various cross-winds at play, but we expect nationwide house price growth to slowly pick up to 55-6% by mid-2020," Mr Jones said.
REINZ regional director Gail Hudson said the wider Queenstown-Wakatipu ward remained "steady" with a median price increase of 16.7% year-on-year.
"However, the volume of sales are still down 33.3% compared to the same time last year," she said.
Over the next few months the traditional quieter winter conditions were likely to prevail and should pick up again after that, she said.
Ms Norwell said Southland continued to be a buoyant market with a median house price of $285,000, up 14.5% on a year ago.
Additionally, the wider Southland district had a record high median price of $416,000, up 41% on a year ago, she said.
On Southland's record low listings, Ms Norwell said when combining the reluctance to list with the difficulty some buyers are still reporting over access to finance, it was understandable why sales volumes were falling across most parts of the country.
Housing data for June
June
+/- % on a year ago
National
$585,000
4.5%
Auckland
$850,000
0%
Otago
$460,000
8.2%
Central Otago
$555,000
15.4%
Clutha
$270,000
26.8%
Dunedin
$427,500
8.2%
Queenstown Lakes
$945,000
6.8%
Waitaki
$340,000
18.3%
Southland
$285,000
14.5%
