Barfoot reports strong January sales

The agency said its average price in Auckland in January this year was more than $600,000 and there was a big lift in new listings and sales.

Managing director Peter Thompson said: “Normally, January is a quiet month with so many people away from the city enjoying their summer break, but this has not been the case this year. In January we listed 1440 properties, our highest number in a January for five years, and 39.7% higher than in the same month last year.”

There were 820 properties sold by the agency in January, a level not achieved in six years. The number of sales was 20.1% up on the same time the year before.

“As always occurs at the start of a new year, prices edged lower than those pre-Christmas, but January’s average price of $600,754, is the first time we have achieved an average price above $600,000 in a January. Compared to last January, the average price is up 13.4 percent,” Thompson said.

There were 68 homes sold for $1 million or more in January.

Of the total number of properties sold 383, or 47%, went for less than $500,000, and of that number 130, or 15.9% of all homes, sold for under $300,000.