Auckland properties interest eases off: data

The average asking price for properties from across New Zealand on the website fell in July by $7556 (1.3 per cent) to $569,971. Photo / Doug Sherring

The asking prices for Auckland properties advertised on industry website realestate.co.nz edged up last month - but the number of people looking at houses in the country's biggest city has dropped from the same time last year.

Realestate.co.nz said this "reinforces the possibility that the shine may have come off the Auckland market".

The seasonally-adjusted average asking price for an Auckland property on the website rose 1.1 per cent between June and July to $898,562. However, the number of people looking at Auckland properties on the website in July was down 4.9 per cent from the same month last year. The number of online viewing sessions for Auckland properties also fell across the year by 10.39 per cent. The number of Auckland properties newly listed on the website in July was 3141 - down 13.9 per cent from the same time last year.

The average asking price for properties from across New Zealand on the website fell in July by $7556 (1.3 per cent) to $569,971.

Demand for properties outside Auckland - based on viewing sessions on realestate.co.nz - was up 14.48 per cent compared with July last year.

Just over 9600 properties were added to the website last month, down 0.6 per cent from last July.

"There have been calls across the nation for measures to rein in house prices, but it may be that the market is actually self-correcting, albeit slightly, with buyers unwilling or unable to meet ever-increasing price rises," said realestate.co.nz brand and commercial manager Vanessa Taylor. "Whether the fall is the start of a trend is still to be determined."

The average asking price was up the most in Marlborough, where it rose by 21 per cent to $503,997. This was a record for the region.

"In addition to Auckland, the main centres where asking prices continued to increase were Waikato, Wellington and Otago, but in Canterbury it's a different picture where asking prices fell for the third month in a row in July," Taylor says.

The average asking price in the region was $462,936 - almost $10,000 less than in May.

The average price fell by the most in Central Otago and the Lakes District, where it slumped 20.9 per cent to $680,672.

While this could be a one-off, Taylor said it was still much lower than the average asking price in July last year of $756,063.

Central Otago is treated as a separate region to Otago, where the average asking price rose 2.3 per cent to $326,102.

Realestate.co.nz is a joint venture between the Real Estate Institute and the New Zealand's biggest real estate agencies.

Asking prices

Auckland: $898,562 (up 1.1 per cent)

Central Otago and Lakes District: $680,672 (down 20.9 per cent)

New Zealand: $569,971 (down 1.3 per cent)

Realestate.co.nz figures for July