Auckland house prices nudge up just 0.5pc

Auckland house prices were up just a notch - a meagre half percentage point - last month.

The latest Real Estate Institute data showed sale prices in New Zealand's hottest market up just 0.5 per cent from June to July.

However, Auckland still featured in the four parts of New Zealand which recorded new residential sale prices highs last month, along with Northland, the Waikato/Bay of Plenty and Manawatu/Whanganui regions.

Real Estate Institute data just out showed Northland reached a record median of $376,000, up 4.4 per cent on June.

Auckland was $825,000, up 0.5 per cent, the Waikato/Bay of Plenty hits its eighth record median in nine months at $450,000, up 2.7 per cent and the Manawatu/Whanganui was $265,000, up 6.4 per cent.

• The national median sale price rose by $5000 to $505,000 but REINZ said this was $1000 less than the record median price reached in May.

• Agents are finding listings harder to come by, regardless of which area they are working in.

"Inventory continues to fall rapidly nationwide, with a 33 per cent decline in properties available for sale year-on-year and six regions seeing falls of greater than 40 per cent."

Wellington and Hawke's Bay each have less than 10 weeks of supply available, with Waikato/Bay of Plenty at just on 10 weeks supply.

• At the same time, the number of residential dwelling sales for July 2016 was 7299, a drop of 7 per cent on June.

Sales volumes also fell 10 per cent compared to July 2015, with sales for Auckland falling just over 20 per cent compared to July last year," REINZ said.

Bryan Thomson, REINZ spokesperson said prices continued to rise in many regions, showing that demand was still firm.

"Sales volumes remain below previous periods, as the continued shortage of supply impacts buyers, who are struggling to find properties to buy. We will watch market reaction with interest as the expected increase in listing numbers during the spring and summer selling period become available and the market assesses the impact of the recently announced LVR rule changes, the approval or otherwise of the Auckland Unitary Plan and possible interest rate cut," Thomson said.

"We understand that it must get very confusing for people with so much data available on the real estate market. REINZ data provides the most up-to-date and complete set of detailed numbers on national sale prices and trends, plus the factors that underpin them. The key thing is to watch the trends over time, and particularly the seasonally adjusted numbers, as they take month-by-month changes out of the equation and focus on how the market is really moving," Thomson said.

On a seasonally adjusted basis Auckland's median price rose 1 per cent from June to July. Although sales volumes in the Auckland region fell 8 per cent compared to June and fell 20 per cent compared to July 2015, on a seasonally adjusted basis the volume of sales in the Auckland region fell 4 per cent compared to June.

This takes into account low levels of available inventory across the Auckland region, which have increased slightly, but are still at historic lows of below 10 weeks supply, REINZ said.

Read the full REINZ release with a regional breakdown here: