Auckland property market slows in November - prices lift

Barfoot and Thompson says average sales prices in Auckland were up 0.5pc while the median sales price fell. Photo / Doug Sherring

The Auckland property market showed signs of slowing last month, with real estate agent Barfoot and Thompson reporting a 7.7 per cent fall in sales and new listings dropping by a similar amount.

Prices were up from October, with the average price rising 4.2 per cent and the median price up 1.9 per cent to $795,000.

"You have to go back 20 months to March 2014 to find a bigger monthly increase in the average price," said Barfoot & Thompson director Kiri Barfoot.

"For the past seven months, monthly increases have been modest, but last month buyers were as committed as ever to meeting vendor expectations," she said. "While prices have ignored Government and Reserve Bank measures designed to cool prices, there has been a measurable decrease in market activity.

"It remains to be seen if prices continue to ignore the tighter regulations, or whether November's prices are the last remnants of momentum that built in the lead up to the introduction of the tighter measures," she said.

The price segment which experienced the largest decline in sales numbers in November compared to October was the $500,000 to $750,000 category. In November, 286 homes were sold in this price category compared to 353 in October.

Thompson said this was a price category popular with investors with portfolios of less than three properties.