House sale expectations rising $1000 a week

Average asking prices for houses have gone up more than $1000 every week over the past year, Trade Me Property’s figures show.

Auckland continues to soar to record levels. Last month the asking price broke through the $700,000 level to a new high of $710,250 – a rise of just under $90,000 in the past 12 months.

Trade Me Property head Nigel Jeffries says the 14.5% increase in average asking prices in Auckland over the past year was a standout result but Southland was up 18% to $242,200, Taranaki rose 15.6% to $367,750 and Hawke’s Bay grew strongly, up 18.4% to $381,300. 

Small houses are showing the biggest year-on-year increases: up 17.2% in Auckland at an average asking price of $563,550. This is a new record high and an increase of $82,600 over the past 12 months. The average asking price for small houses in Wellington was up 9.1% and in Christchurch 7.5%.

Expectations for larger homes of five-plus bedrooms also soared. In Auckland the average asking price for these homes is now $1,084,500, up 8.7% year on year. In February last year the average asking price for a large Auckland home was $998,000, a single year rise of more than $86,500.

Mr Jeffries says the asking price trend in Christchurch has begun to ease. “With the scale of new construction across the city, it’s not surprising to see demand pressure better matched by new supply, leading to more modest selling price expectations."

The latest housing figures from Harcourts show written sales are up strongly, apart from Christchurch where buyers are benefiting from increasing choice.

Christchurch’s housing stock sits at 25.7% above last year’s levels. There were 7308 new houses consented in the city over the past year and Harcourts chief executive Hayden Duncan says the agency expects the trend to continue. “Written sales were down 3.4% on last year, showing buyers are not rushing into purchases as there are more houses to choose from.”

Mr Duncan says the entire South Island had a strong February, with written sales up 11.9% compared to last year and average house prices rising 5% to $345,943. “The increase in buyers is coupled with a rise in new listings, adding buoyancy to a market that has struggled over the past few years.”

New listings for the agency in Auckland/Northland are up 23.6% compared with last year and now sit at the highest level since March last year.  Harcourts says despite rising house prices, written sales were up 6.8% compared to last year, showing buyers don’t believe house prices will drop any time soon.