Auckland house sales fell in October from the month earlier, as the number of unsold properties on Barfoot & Thompson's books rose to the highest level since July, the city's biggest realtor said.
Auckland house sales fell in October from the month earlier, as the number of unsold properties on Barfoot & Thompson's books rose to the highest level since July, the city's biggest realtor said.
The number of sales slipped to 939 last month, from 959 in September and was 21.9 percent below the number of sales in October a year earlier, Barfoot said in a statement. The average sale price slipped 0.4 percent from September to $736,238 but was 11 percent higher than the same month a year ago.
House sales had slowed in the lead up to Sept. 20 general election, as electoral uncertainty spooked house hunters, particularly those at the lower end of the market, with both major political parties proposing reforms to try and rein in housing affordability. The incumbent National party was returned for a third term in government, and will introduce policies allowing prospective buyers to tap into more of their Kiwisaver funds and give power to councils to fast-track residential development.
"It always takes some months for the property market to regain lost momentum when interrupted by a lack of certainty," said Peter Thompson, the realtor's managing director. "The large number of new listings in October indicates we will see a significant pick-up in sales numbers in November."
Today's figures show new listings climbed 34.3 percent in the month to 1,765, the highest level in 12 months, as sellers returned to the market after electoral uncertainty, Barfoot said. At the end of the month the realtor had 3,267 properties on its books.
Of the houses sold, 18 percent went with a price tag of more than $1 million, while properties under $500,000 made up a quarter of all sales.
(BusinessDesk)
