House prices lose fizz in April

Institute figures released today showed the national median house price dipped to $272,000 in April from the record $280,000 hit the month before but remained above the April 2004 figure of $242,000.

Reinz national president Howard Morley said April was a "traditionally" soft month for the market, however, the dip in median price was accompanied by "a significant reduction" in sales from 10,398 in March to 8876 in April - the lowest number of sales for an April month since 2001.

But Morley downplayed the significance of the softer data saying the lower April median "needs to be seen against the particularly sharp jump from February, when the median was $269,200, to $280,000 in March".

"April is always a quieter month and activity usually falls sharply, whereas March is always a strong month which has been the seasonal pattern for many years."

He said some median prices in the regions had been reduced by particularly low sales volumes reflecting a fall in the number of properties being offered for sale.

"This is witnessed by the fact that the national days to sell figure is unchanged at 28 days, suggesting there has been little overall fall in confidence in the market, despite rising interest rates - simply a reduced level of activity."

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