Property asking prices soar in October

Asking prices for New Zealand properties hit an all time high last month, while new listings slumped. Photo / Greg Bowker

Asking prices for New Zealand residential properties hit an all-time high last month, says real estate listings website Realestate.co.nz.

In its monthly property report released today, the company says the average asking price for property available nationally hit $434,161 during the month, passing the previous high of $429,250 reached earlier this year in April.

But while price hopes are high, the number of new properties coming onto the market for sale are low - with new listings dropping a seasonally adjusted 11 per cent in October.

The Auckland region led the trend for prices, recording its highest average asking price - $568,778 - since Realestate.co.nz began tracking the market data in 2007.

Read more about the report here.

Chief executive of Realestate.co.nz, Alistair Helm, said the rise in asking prices clearly reflected buyers anticipating a buoyant market. Many had been encouraged by a high demand for property alongside a "steep drop in inventory" over recent months.

Helm said a "steadying of the number of new property listings becoming available last month indicated that the market is balancing out a little."

New listings tended to increase in October, but slower than expected September sales this year had lead to uncertainty among sellers thinking of entering the market.

The number of new listings in October - 11,312, was slightly up on September, but on a seasonally adjusted basis, this was 11 per cent down on volumes recorded at the same time last year - a considerable drop, said Helm.

- New Zealand building consents stalled in September with its first monthly decline in five eroding gains over the past two months.

The number of new dwellings excluding apartments authorised dropped a seasonally adjusted 14 per cent to 1,039 in September, and was down 17 per cent including the volatile apartments issuance, Statistics New Zealand said.

This decline undoes the strong growth of the past two months as consents were approved for reconstruction in Christchurch.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE