Average property prices in New Zealand’s biggest housing market in Auckland edged up 1.1% in June to $928,842 with the outlook for values and sales described as stable.
Prices in the capital city are now 0.2% higher quarter on quarter and some 1.7% higher than in June 2017, according to the latest index from Barfoot & Thompson.
However, the median price fell by 1.2% to $810,000 month on month, down 3.2% quarter on quarter and down 3.6% year on year, the data also shows>
‘It means market prices, which have marked time and came under no pressure to move in one direction or another since the beginning of the year, have entered the winter period in the same state. It is a market environment that is likely to remain constant to the start of spring,’ said Peter Thompson, the firm’s managing director.
Sales numbers for June at 903 were solid for the start of winter, and while as expected were down on the 1,027 sales in May they were 5.6% higher than at the same time last year, he pointed out.
For the first six months of 2018 sales are 6% higher than they were for the first six months of 2017, showing market activity is potentially slowly re-emerging.
New listings at 1,210 for the month were modest, and down nearly a quarter on the comparative figure in June last year but listings at month end at 4,267 were less than 1% lower than those in June last year.
Thompson also pointed out that there were a high number of properties that sold for under $500,000, representing 18.3% of all sales. ‘While some of these sales would be apartments it also represents a high number of standalone homes being sold on the outer northern, western and southern suburbs of Auckland,’ he said.
Sales of homes for $1 million and $2 million remained strong, with a third of all homes falling within these two price categories and the rural and lifestyle markets in June was the second most active month this year.
Meawhile, official figures show that new home consents in Auckland reached a 15 year high in May at 1,530, the highest since October 2002. The figures from Statistics New Zealand also show that the total number of new homes consented nationally increased by 7.1% following a 3.6% fall in April 2018.
Nationally, in the year ended May 2018, some 32,628 new homes were consented, up 6.5% from the May 2017 year. In Auckland, 12,274 new homes were consented, up 18% from the year ended May 2017.
