Auckland House Sales Numbers Fall

Auckland House Sales Numbers Fall As Listings Reach Seven Month Low

For the second consecutive month the number of homes sold in Auckland fell, prices remained stable while at the end of July the number of listings was at a 7-month low.

“The average sales price in July reached $719,312 for the month, which was less than a 1 percent increase over June’s average price,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“Sales values over the past four months have been moving around after reaching an all-time high of $725,708 in March.

“In April and May they edged down, and while they recovered some lost ground in June and again in July, prices have certainly not returned to those being achieved in March.

“Prices at present are best described as steady.

“In part that’s because a price and trading downturn is normal in winter, but another likely cause is the impending General Election.

“The housing market invariably goes quiet during a run in to an election.

“After improving modestly in the first four months of the year, by the end of July the supply situation had again become extremely tight with only 3273 properties on our books, the lowest number for seven months.

“We normally see new listings increase during August as vendors prepare to take advantage of the increase in sales activity as spring approaches. However, with a General Election in September, the potential exists that trading in August may not follow the normal pattern as the market awaits the Election outcome.

“A stand out feature of July’s trading was that we sold 169 homes for in excess of $1 million, which represents nearly one house in every six sold.

“Sales of homes in this price segment are currently running 28.7 percent ahead of where they were last year after the first 7 months of the year.

“Investing in a home to improve lifestyle has always been a strong feature of property buying in Auckland, and buyers with the financial resources to do so are still active in the top end of the market.

“At the same time there are large numbers of properties in Auckland’s outer southern, western and northern suburbs being sold for less than $500,000.
“Out of the total number of sales during July of 983, 29.4 percent or 289 were homes in the under $500,000 price category.”

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