Auckland house prices and sales up as summer arrives, big agency says

New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, suburbia Auckland, aerial view of the affluent suburb Herne Bay. NZH 19Dec20 -

The Auckland housing market is starting to walk the talk, with more sales and prices gaining steam in November, Barfoot & Thompson said today.

The agency’s average price was $1.186 million. That was up 8.7 per cent on October and the highest in 19 months.

“November was the month when all the talk about positive gains for the housing market showed up in the sales data,” said Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson.

“The recovery is modest, but steady, and gained momentum in the later part of the month, indicating that December will also be a good trading month,” he said.

The median price in the metropolis was $1.018m, the highest it had been in eight months.

But sales were up too - 13 per cent higher than the previous month and 33 per cent higher than October 2022.

Barfoot & Thompson said average Auckland prices last month were up 8.7 per cent on October. Photo / Manfred Gottschalk

Thompson said the company sold 956 homes last month.

He said the latest data indicated “a sound, rising market” rather than a temporary blip.

“Buyers returned in strength to the top end of the market, with 91 sales of properties for more than $2m, the highest in a month for 20 months,” he said.

Two dozen homes sold for more than $3m, the biggest sales bonanza in that price level since early 2022.

“The rural and lifestyle markets in Northland, and the rural markets to the south, west and north of Auckland were more subdued than the metropolitan market and overall experienced a more moderate lift in market activity,” Thompson added.

“There were, however, pockets of high local activity with the Franklin market achieving its highest ever sales in the month of November.”

He said new listings gained traction in the rural markets from late November.

Thompson was upbeat about summer sales prospects.

“The recovery is modest, but steady, and gained momentum in the later part of the month, indicating that December will also be a good trading month.”

About three weeks ago, the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) October report showed the house price index, which measures the changing value of properties, rose 1.1 per cent in October.

REINZ chief executive Jen Baird at the time described the market as having a “slow but steady improvement”.