Auckland housing market 'restrained' as April sales fall to four-year low: Barfoot
The number of sales dropped 12% to 944 in April from the same month last year.
Auckland residential property sales volumes in April fell to the lowest level for the month in four years, according to the city's largest realtor.
The number of sales dropped 12% to 944 in April from the same month last year, and were 30% lower than in March, Barfoot & Thompson said in a statement. The realtor said its 1496 new listings in April were down 5.3% from a year earlier and 20% lower than March. It had just 2846 properties on its books at the end of April, the third consecutive monthly decline and the lowest level for April in more than 15 years.
April's average Auckland sale price of $873,599 is 8.6% higher than April last year, lagging behind the 12% rate over the past year, and just 0.8% higher than March, Barfoot said.
The government and the Reserve Bank last year introduced measures to try to cool Auckland's bubbling property market, where migrants and investors are adding to competition for a shortage of housing. Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler last week kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged, noting there were some indications that house price inflation in Auckland may be picking up. However, Barfoot said today its data suggested Auckland house prices have pulled back from breaking into new territory.
"Overall, activity in April is best described as restrained," said Peter Thompson, managing director of Barfoot & Thompson. "The likely cause of this was caution over current pricing and the low number of properties on the market, restricting choice."
The median sales price for the month at $820,000 was up 2.8% on that for March, and 8.8% higher than April last year.
"In part, the climb in the midway price point (median price) can be attributed to the low number of homes sold in the month for under $500,000," Mr Thompson said. "In April, only 7.1% of all homes sold were in this price category compared to 10.9% in March while house sales above the $1 million mark were the second highest for 7 months."
(BusinessDesk)
Tina Morrison
Wed, 04 May 2016
Wed, 04 May 2016
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Auckland housing market 'restrained' as April sales fall to four-year low: Barfoot
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