Housing market plateauing

"The growth in house sales held steady at 40% per year in November. However this figure does make activity in the  market appear stronger than it really was, as activity in November last year was very weak," says Mike Pero Mortgages chief executive Shaun Riley.

The Property Cycle Indicator, which runs from minus 10 to positive 10, fell slightly to 7.35 last month, from 7.37 in October. The indicator is a sensitive measure of the housing market and includes the changes in the number of houses sold, the changes in price and the time taken to sell.

The median house price was unchanged from October at $355,000 which was up 5.2%from November last year.

Days to sell stand at 33 for November, up for the first time in nine months, from 31 in October, although the figure is still 11 days fewer than in November last year.

Wellington and Auckland are again showing strong signals and are leading the market, according to the indicator.

Wellington lead the country in November with a PCI of 9.16, up from 8.27 in October, and Auckland was not far behind with a PCI of 9.06, up from 8.31 the previous month.

In the South Island, Canterbury/Westland's PCI was 4.65, slipping from 5.03, Southland's was 2.49, up from 2.43, and Nelson/Marlborough was 3.22, up slightly from 3.15 in October.

Rents in November were up 0.50% from a year ago, the strongest annual growth since January this year.