Housing market shivers as sales drop

Real Estate Institute figures show that 1400 fewer houses were sold last month than at the same time last year.

The national median sale price fell to $243,000, down from $248,000 in May.

Houses are also taking slightly longer to sell, on average 31 days compared with 30 in May.

However, news for Wellington and Hawke's Bay home owners is good. The Wellington region median sale price is holding steady at $262,500, while Hawke's Bay prices have jumped from $195,000 in May to $219,000.

The fall in the national median price was mainly due to the effect of heavy sales of lower-priced apartments in Auckland, combined with the traditional winter slowdown, institute president Graeme Woodley said.

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