House prices in Auckland, New Zealand, have reached a new record high with the average selling price in November increasing by more than $9,000 compared to the previous month.

Buyer demand is leading to record prices with the average reaching $627,721, according to the latest market report from Barfoot & Thompson.

‘In the past two months we have seen house values lift to a new high water mark. For much of this year the average price moved between $580,000 and $590,000 but with two consecutive months of trading at an average price well above $600,000, the entire pricing structure has lifted,’ said Peter Thompson, the firm’s managing director.

‘While we may see some easing of average prices during the Christmas/New Year period, during the prime summer trading months of February and March average prices are likely to return to the low $600,000s,’ he explained.

‘Telling signs that higher prices have become entrenched are the 146 homes that sold for in excess of $1 million, a quarter more than we have ever sold in one month previously, and that 43% of homes sold for less than $500,000, whereas on average the number is normally half,’ he added.

He pointed out that the driver that is causing homes values to increase so quickly is buyer demand and that has led to prices increasing across all price brackets.

‘In November we listed 1,769 properties, the highest number in one month for nearly five years, and combined with residual listing, there was a reasonable range of properties from which to choose,’ said Thompson.

‘Listing are being helped with a greater number of home owners making the decision to follow through with their future housing intentions now that higher prices are being achieved,’ he explained.

‘These buyers who are either trading up or down, combined with new arrivals or those looking for rental investments, were higher in number than available stock, and this led to keen buying, particularly at auctions,’ he added.

Overall sales numbers for the month at 1,124 were up 4% on those for October and up 25.7% on those for October last year. At the end of the month the firm had only 3,816 properties on its books, the lowest number at the end of November for more than 10 years.

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