Auckland House Prices Set A New High Water Mark At $627,000

December 5, 2012

Media statement

Auckland House Prices Set A New High Water Mark At $627,000

The average selling price for homes in the Auckland market took another large step forward in November, increasing by more than $9,000 on last month’s record price to settle at an average price of $627,721.

“In the past two months we have seen house values lift to a new high water mark,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“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.

“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.

“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 percent of homes sold for less than $500,000, whereas on average the number is normally half.

“The driver that is causing homes values to increase so quickly is buyer demand.

“It has led to prices increasing across all price brackets.

“In November we listed 1769 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.

“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.

“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.

“Sales numbers for the month at 1124 were up 4 percent on those for October and up 25.7 percent on those for November last year.

“At month end we had only 3816 properties on our books, the lowest number at the end of November for more than 10 years.”

ENDS

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