Auckland house sales, price growth slower than usual in September, Barfoot says

Auckland house sales didn't get the boost expected in spring, with price growth moderating, Barfoot & Thompson says.

Sales rose 4.8% to 1051 in September compared to August, but were down 23% from the same month a year earlier, the city's biggest realtor said in a statement. The median sale price was unchanged at $850,000 from a month prior and was 7.6% higher than a year earlier. The average price was $919,849, which is 1.5% higher than a month earlier and 10% higher than September 2015.

"With the arrival of spring, housing activity normally lifts, but it has not been the case this year," managing director Peter Thompson said. "Rather, the market continued the trend which first showed in July of prices increasing at a much slower rate than in the past two to three years. Compared to what was happening to prices last September, the Auckland housing market is subdued and we are now looking at a totally different market from 12 months ago."

The Reserve Bank's extended mortgage lending restrictions officially came into effect this month, though the major banks had already begun following them. The changes cap property investor loans with less than 40% as a deposit to just 5% of lending and restrict owner-occupiers with less than a fifth down to 10%.

The central bank is trying to curb demand for property where prices have soared at a faster rate than wages, leaving households with larger mortgages and making housing less affordable for people on modest incomes. A lack of housing in Auckland combined with record migration and low interest rates have stoked the rapid jump in prices over the past few years.

Mr Thompson said sales hadn't been affected at the high end of the market, with 38% of properties sold at $1 million or more, while just 7.7% of properties sold for under $500,000.

The realtor's number of new listings fell 10% to 1,706 in September, which is 21% lower than the same month a year earlier. As at September 30, Barfoot had 3151 properties on its books for sale, down 2.9% from the end of August and 2.8% fewer than a year earlier.

(BusinessDesk)

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