Modest but solid house sales in Auckland show market on ‘road to recovery’

The median price was 3.4 per cent higher than July’s median of $950,000, which was the lowest in nearly three years. Photo / Alex Burton

Monthly property sales in Auckland this September were the second-highest for a major agency in almost two years.

Barfoot & Thompson said prices were modest but still promising, and likely to pick up after the election and into summer.

The company said its 825 sales in September were down 6.1 per cent on August but up one-third on the same month last year.

The median sales price in September of $987,000 was much the same as it was a month earlier.

Barfoot & Thompson said that indicated the downward price cycle had likely run its course.

The median price was 3.4 per cent higher than July’s median of $950,000, which was the lowest in nearly three years.

Back in July, the agency’s average Auckland house sales were falling by nearly $1000 a day.

“September was another modest but good sales period on the road to recovery,” the company’s managing director Peter Thompson said today.

Peter Thompson says September was more solid than spectacular, but trends are looking good. Photo / Fiona Goodall

Thompson expected that when the election was over and summer under way, the normal seasonal upturn should manifest.

“More property is listed, particularly higher-priced homes, and buyer interest returns. This in turn leads to an increase in sales numbers and more competitive bidding at auctions,” he said.

“Properties valued at under $750,000 figured prominently in September’s sales, with 26.3 per cent of all sales being in this segment of the market.”

Apartment ascendancy

That was evidence of increasingly influential apartment and townhouse sales in Auckland, he said.

“The change in emphasis away from standalone housing towards multiple properties on a single site has now reached the point where it is lowering the entry point for home ownership for a great number of people.”

The company said during September, 1469 new properties were listed, the second highest number this year.

Bank lending for rural property was still a challenge for many aspiring buyers, Barfoot & Thompson said.

“The rural and lifestyle markets in Northland and the surrounding districts of Auckland started the month slowly but picked up from mid-month on, with the value of sales doubling those for the same month last year.”

Other sales data in mid-September indicated Auckland might have hit the house price floor already.