NZ median house price returns to March record $400,000 as sales rise

Oct. 14 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand’s median house price returned to its March record last month, with gains in both Auckland and Canterbury, while the number of properties sold jumped by about a fifth in the last month before restrictions on low-deposit loans kicked in.

The median sale price rose $10,000 to $400,000 in September, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. The number of houses sold last month was 6,720, up 2.6 percent from August and up 19 percent from the same month of 2012.

The REINZ Stratified Median Housing Price Index, which strips out peaks and troughs in housing information, rose 0.8 percent to a record high 3,778.1, and was up 9.8 percent from September last year.

“Real estate sales volumes have been strong in the lead up to the introduction of LVR restriction by the Reserve Bank,” said REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan. “Sales volumes are ahead of what we would normally expect for this time of the year, with strong growth in sales coming through in several regional centres.”

In Auckland, the median price rose 1.2 percent from August to $570,000, while the volume sold rose 3.2 percent to 2,677. Northland’s median price fell 2.2 percent to $299,000 and the volume rose 10.2 percent to 183.

In the Waikato/Bay of Plenty the median price edged up 1.9 percent to $325,000 and sales gained 3.8 percent to 973. Hawkes Bay’s median price fell 8.9 percent to $268,750 and the volume fell 10.4 percent to 198.

For Manawatu/Wanganui the median price dropped 5.7 percent to $227,250 and the volume fell 4 percent to 264.Taranaki’s median price fell 1.9 percent to $284,500 and sales rose 15.3 percent to 181.

Wellington’s median price rose 2.6 percent to $390,000 and sales rose 5.9 percent to 632.

Nelson/Marlborough’s median price dipped 6.7 percent to $342,000 and sales rose about 11 percent to 246. Canterbury/Westland recorded a 2.7 percent increase in the median house price to $375,000 and sales fell 2.9 percent to 811.

Central Otago Lakes reported an 8.8 percent gain in the median price to $419,000 while sales fell 3.1 percent to 94. Otago’s median price rose 4.3 percent to $245,000 and sales fell 1.7 percent to 229. Southland’s median price rose 3.6 percent to $189,500 and sales rose about 11 percent to 145.

The number of days to sell fell to 31 from 34 in August.

(BusinessDesk)

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