Auckland Housing In May Enjoys Busiest Sales For A May In Seven Years

The Auckland housing market experienced its busiest May trading in seven years, with the average sales price increasing by 2.5% in a month to $582,285.

“The market showed no signs of the slow down that normally occurs as we approach winter,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“Sales for the month at 1165 were the highest in a May since 2005, and were 31% higher than for the same month last year, and up 55.3 percent on last month.

“A significant number of new listings, keenly priced mortgage lending rates, fine weather and a large pool of potential buyers all played their part in the level of activity achieved.

“In the month we listed 1421 properties, up 12.2 percent on those for April and up 21.6 percent on those for May last year.

“It was our highest number of new listings in a May for 5 years.

“But even this number of new listing was insufficient to meet buyer demand, and at the end of the month we had only 4356 homes on our books, the lowest number in five years.

“We ended the month with 256 fewer homes on our books than we started with.

“The  low number of new homes built in past years, coupled with Auckland’s population growth, has created a situation where supply remains the issue, and this is reflected in the prices being obtained.

“An average price of $582,000 is the highest average prices we have ever recorded.

“For 2011, the average price achieved was $543,000, and this May’s average price is 7.2 percent above that.

Mr Thompson said while it sold 91 homes valued at more than $1 million in May, a little more than half of all the homes sold were valued at less than $500,000.

“The shortage of available housing is being felt right across Auckland, and in all price ranges.”