Steve Hart: Auckland slows price rise

Bindi Norwell, CEO of the institute, says Hawke's Bay has seen record price increases for two months in a row. Photo / Richard Robinson

Median home prices across the country went up 6.9 per cent in the year to February to $530,000, according to the Real Estate Institute.

Surprisingly, it was Auckland that put a dampener on prices, because, if you take the Super City out of the equation, the median price for New Zealand goes up by 8.4 per cent. In isolation, Auckland prices rose 3.7 per cent to a median $858,000 during the past 12 months.

All up, median house prices increased in 14 of 16 regions across the country in the year to February — missing out were the West Coast and Gisborne, which saw decreases of 10.7 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively. However, the standout performer was Hawke's Bay; its median went up by 18.4 per cent to $444,000 (from $375,000).

Bindi Norwell, CEO of the institute, says Hawke's Bay has seen record price increases for two months in a row.

"Clearly the region is proving extremely popular," she says. "Additionally, the recent announcement by Regional Economic Development Minister, Shane Jones that nearly $9 million will be spent to reopen the Wairoa-Napier line for logging trains will bring significant development for the Hawke's Bay region."

Meanwhile, Auckland's median price continues to creep upwards and is, says Norwell, showing signs of "moderated growth" rather than the double digits seen during 2016 and 2017.

"This is far more positive for the region as we know double-digit increases are not sustainable in the long term," says Norwell.

The median number of days to sell a property nationally increased by four to 44, says the institute. Auckland saw the median days to sell increase by six to 49 during the past 12 months. This is the highest number of days it's taken to sell in Auckland for nine years.

Auctions were used in 12 per cent of all sales across the country in February, with 756 properties selling under the hammer. This is down slightly from February last year, when 15 per cent sold via auction.

Gisborne saw the highest percentage of auctions at 40 per cent, followed by Auckland on 22 per cent. The number of properties available for sale nationally stands at 26,943.

In the year to February, the number of homes sold for less than $500,000 across New Zealand fell from 50.2 per cent of the market to 46 per cent (2930 properties).