Auckland house prices stabilising at boom-time levels

The average sale price rose 0.5% last month from November to $552,933, according to Barfoot & Thompson, the city's biggest real estate firm.  

"Regardless of how you analyse the sales data, sellers are now achieving almost a similar price for property as they would have at the height of the 2007 property boom," said managing director Peter Thompson in a statement.

"The prices of houses did not fall sharply from their 2007 highs because owners did not accept the lower prices on offer."  

The resurgent residential property market, which helped underpin the country's economic recovery, convinced central bank Governor Alan Bollard last month to bring forward the timing of increases to the official cash rate.

In the latest monetary policy statement, he said hikes could begin in the middle of this year.  

Thompson expects house prices to remain stable in the first three months of this year, and doubts rising interest rates will deter buyers.  

"Buyers are balancing that with a quiet confidence in the economy and their job prospects," he said. "I anticipate we will follow the traditional pattern of prices falling away a little in January and then firming for the remainder of the warmer months."  

While a healthy 965 new listings were added in December, the highest for that month in two years, total current listings of 5,431 are the lowest January total for two years.  

The real estate agency sold 648 properties in December, down 33% from November, but up 41% from a year earlier.  

The company's property management division registered its second straight monthly fall in average weekly rent to $389 from $396 in November.  

Businesswire