Auckland housing market at turning point?

Auckland housing market at turning point?

Auckland’s biggest real estate firm, Barfoot and Thompson, believes the housing market could have reached a turning point with the average house price decreasing by $18,000 during February.

While January was a record month for house prices, February has seen the average Auckland house price fall to $340,595, down from $358, 270 the previous month.

Barfoot & Thompson Director Peter Thompson describes the market being right on a turning point.

“Whenever there is a major event in Auckland sales drop slightly while the event is on. We have seen this over the past few weeks and believe it could be attributed to the America’s Cup.”

The volume of sales rose slightly from 1,051 in January to 1,087 in February but this figure is below the February 2002 figure of 1,120.

“When the market is at a turning point, we normally see an increase in listings and a decrease in sales. Even though we have seen a slight increase in the volume of sales, the numbers are leveling off which is why we believe the market is right at a significant turning point.”

“The next couple of months will give a better indication of whether the market has turned or not.”

“If the number of listings does continue to increase we could expect the average sale price to stabilise at existing levels.”

February has also seen a small decrease in the average weekly rent and the number of houses or units that Barfoot & Thompson has to let.

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