Auckland House Prices Plateau In August, Sales Numbers Remain Low

The monthly downward slide in Auckland house prices came to a halt in August, with the median sales price for the month remaining constant with that for July while the average price increased.

“Previously, the average sales price had fallen four months in a row, but in August that trend was reversed with the average price over the previous month increasing by 3.1 percent to $1,157,899,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“The median price at $1,111,000 remained consistent with that for July.

“Rather than signalling that prices are on the increase, this reversal is likely to be an indication that prices are plateauing.

“The prices being paid in August are still below those being paid in August last year, but the average price was down only 2 percent and the median price down 1.7 percent.

“Where the market is really seeing change is in the number of properties being sold, with sales numbers in August being 578, our lowest number of sales in a month since the Covid affected sales months in mid-2020.

“Given that there are buyers in the market, the combination of low sales numbers and stable prices indicates that vendors believe prices are bottoming out.

“New vendors continue to enter the market, and in August we listed 1394 new properties, our highest number of new listings in the month of August for 6 years.

“At month end we had 4637 properties on our books, our highest number of listings at the end of August for 11 years.

“With high new listings, including new builds entering the market for the first time, and a solid base of existing properties we enter the normally buoyant spring buying season with an excellent range of properties and choice for buyers.

“In spite of the median sales price sitting at $1,111,000 in August, during the month 18 percent on all our sales were for properties valued at under $750,000 while only 8 percent of sales were for properties above $2 million.”

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