Average Auckland House Price Exceeds $1 Million In October

The era of the average sales price of Auckland residential property exceeding $1 million has begun with October’s average sales price hitting $1,045,104. At the same time the median price set a new high of $967,000.

“Both are significant milestones in terms of house prices in Auckland and are a reflection of current demand for property and people’s confidence in the medium term future of Auckland property prices,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“While there is strong interest in property from first time buyers and investors, the vast majority of homes continue to be bought by existing property owners who are moving forward with their lifestyle decisions in terms of their housing ambitions.

“For existing homeowners the financial gap between their present and next home is manageable, and they are taking advantage of low interest rates to transition to the next stage of their lives.

“We have been building towards the new benchmark prices for the past three months with prices rising steadily, and in October property sales at 1319 were the strongest they have been in a month for more than four years.

“The combination of high new listings, which at 2119 for the month were the highest in any month for more than three years, and low interest mortgage finance being readily available, has led to fierce competition developing among buyers.

“The average price in October increased by 4.8 percent on that for the previous month and the median price increased by 4 percent.

“On a year-on-year basis the average price has increased by 11.3 percent and the median price 14.4 percent.

“The number of property sales in the pipeline agreed and awaiting completion is extremely strong, and this will ensure that property sales numbers through to year end will remain high.

“Property sales for more than $1 million accounted for 49.5 percent of all sales in October. Until recently, they accounted for about a third of monthly sales.

“Sales for more than $2 million are no longer an exception, and in October we sold 102 homes in this price category, representing 7.7 percent of total sales.

“Conversely, 4.5 percent of sales were for properties that sold for under $500,000.

“At month end we had 3925 properties on our books, the highest number in four months and 2.7 percent higher than at the same time last year.

“For the fourth consecutive month rural and lifestyle property sales have been strong and in October sales in dollar terms were more than double what they were in October last year.

“Buyers are seeing the lifestyle market as offering good value for money in comparison to the urban market and this is leading to a shortage of available listings.”

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