Average Auckland property price static, median price falls

Auckland residential property prices have lost their upward momentum.

"The average sales price has remained static for two months now," said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

"In May, the average price of $874,623 increased by just over $1000 over that for April, while April's average price increased by less than $7,000 over that for March."

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

"This is well down on the 12 percent increase we saw in the 2015 calendar year.

"We have now had five 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 percent.

"May's median price is up 3.1 percent on the average for the previous three months and up 7.9 percent on the year-on-year comparison.

"The stabilisation of prices is not a result of lack of buyers.

"Sales numbers at 1,306 rebounded off last month's low level and were up more than a third on those for April, and up 31.4 percent on the average for the previous three months.

"Sales numbers benefited from a strong level of new listings, which reached 1,905. This was an increase of 27.3 percent on those for the previous month.

"At month end we had 3,013 properties on our books. While this is higher than the previous month's 2,846, 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 (464) sold for in excess of $1 million, with 14.2 percent (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."

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Barfoot & Thompson is Auckland's leading real estate company. If you're looking for houses for sale, Barfoot & Thompson sell around one in three Auckland residential homes, significantly ahead of all other competitor brands. Their Auckland Property Management division manage over 13,000 rental properties and have residential property managers in over 50 branches.