Northland home sellers get a quick deal

The number of property sales in Northland eased back last month but buyer activity was still almost a third higher than the same period last year, reveals the latest REINZ report.

According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, 130 properties sold last month compared with 145 in March and just 98 for the same period last year.

But the number of days taken to sell was 48 in April - the shortest for two years.

The drop in the length of time to sell a property continues a downward trend.

However, it's not all good news with the median sale price for the region falling from $315,000 in March to $290,000 in April - an 8 per cent drop.

REINZ chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said the the increase in property sales was good news for the real estate market.

"Although prices overall continue to ease ... news such as the refinery expansion project may help to bring some price support to the Northland market.

"The trend in the median price continues to ease with a 0.7 per cent fall over the past 12 months.

"On the other hand volumes and the number of days to sell continue to improve.

"Overall, the trend in the Northland region is steady." Elsewhere, the Far North and Kaipara experienced price drops of -2.1 per cent and -7.3 respectively, Whangarei actually posted a 3.1 per cent increase in sales prices.

Nationwide residential property values resumed their gentle rise in April, according to QV valuer Glenda Whitehead.

"Values (nationally)are up 0.4 per cent over the past three months and 3.1 per cent up over the past year.

"Sales activity has been strong for the past few months, with volumes at the highest levels since 2007.

"Some of the increase in activity has been due to an increase in confidence among home buyers, releasing some of the pent-up demand caused by several years of lower than usual sale activity."

First home buyers are also active in the main centres, in part encouraged by the Welcome Home Loan package and low interest rates.

"Sales activity will slow down a little over winter but the increased confidence in the property market is likely to carry through to spring."

QV gets its data by comparing average weekly earnings with median house prices and mortgage interest rates.

The figures are calculated over a three-month period and compared with the previous year.