Figures out in error

Real Estate Institute figures on January house sales will be out today for the second time this week.

The institute released figures on Wednesday showing poor sales numbers and a $10,000 drop in the national median price, posting them on its website.

The Herald published an economist's analysis of the data. But by yesterday, the institute had pulled the January figures, saying the original posting was an error.

The figures showed the national median price falling from $360,000 to $350,000, the number of days to sell pushing out from 33 to 43 and volumes slumping by 17 per cent.