Housing market takes sudden plunge

After months of surprising strength because of a mortgage price war late last year, prices fell sharply across the country in April, figures from the Real Estate Institute show.

The national median house price fell 3 per cent to $272,000 from a record $280,000 in March, and the median price for Wellington fell 5 per cent to $275,000.

But the overall figure for Wellington disguised a slump in prices and volumes in central Wellington. The median price for central Wellington properties fell 23 per cent to $316,000 in April from $410,000 in March and is back to the level of a year ago. Central Wellington sales fell to 58 from 84 in March and 83 a year ago.

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