House prices dip in Auckland but sale volumes rise

Auckland house prices have been stable over the past few months. Photo / NZ Herald

• Median sale prices dipped between April and May.
• Yet sale volumes rose sharply between the two months.
• 69 per cent of sales last month were over $750,000.
• Listings remain at historically low levels.
• More than a third of places went for $1 million or more.

Median residential property sale prices by Auckland's largest real estate agency fell from $820,000 in April to $809,500 last month.

Barfoot & Thompson has just released the figures and its managing director Peter Thompson said Auckland residential property prices had lost their upward momentum.

"The average sales price has remained static for two months now," he said.

However, he picked the average figures to highlight rather than the median.

Those averages showed a slight rise, from $873,599 in April to $874,623 last month.

"The average price in May compared to that for the previous three months is up only 2.4 per cent, and the year-on-year increase for May was up only 6.4 per cent," Thompson said.

"This is well down on the 12 per cent increase we saw in the 2015 calendar year. We have now had 5 months of trading since the all-time high average price of $876,075 was set.

"In May, the median price came off its all-time high of $820,000, falling to $809,500, a drop of more than $10,000 or 1.3 per cent.

"May's median price is up 3.1 per cent on the average for the previous 3 months and up 7.9 per cent on the year-on-year comparison," he said.

The stabilisation of prices was not a result of lack of buyers.

"Sales numbers at 1306 rebounded off last month's low level and were up more than a third on those for April, and up 31.4 per cent on the average for the previous 3 months. Sales numbers benefited from a strong level of new listings, which reached 1905. This was an increase of 27.3 per cent on those for the previous month," Thompson said.

"At month end we had 3013 properties on our books. While this is higher than the previous month's 2846, listings remain at historically low levels, and there has never been a better time to sell."

More than a third of all the properties sold in May, equating to 464, sold for in excess of $1 million, with 14.2 per cent (185) selling for less than $500,000.

"In the last two months, the number of sales has not influenced prices. In May turnover was high and in April turnover was low, yet for both months prices remained relatively static or fell. "

Median Auckland residential prices:
January $760,000
February $738,000
March $798,000
April $820,000
May $809,500

Volume of residential sales:
January 893
February 698
March 1341
April 944
May 1306