House prices ignore predictions to rocket forward

And the country’s largest realtor, Harcourts, set a 117-year record.

Economists have been predicting that the market was set to turn. BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander last month warned first-time home-buyers to stay out of the market. Westpac said it too was predicting a gradual price drop.

But Barfoot & Thompson’s average sales figure shot up from $428,966 in February to $468,151 last month, partly due to a large number of luxury house sales.

Director Peter Thompson said three big deals for between $3 million and $10 million and 11 sales in the $2 million range pushed averages up.

"Most of the large sales were in Auckland’s eastern suburbs," he said. "In fact, our Remuera branch had a particularly successful month, selling 47 properties worth a total of almost $60 million."

The average sale price fell from $454,345 in January to $428,966 in February but the latest numbers showed the opposite trend.

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