Price growth slows: REINZ

There were 5911 sales in September, down 12% from the year before.

The national median price was $420,000 for the month, unchanged from August.

REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan said there was a noticeable pick-up in activity in the last 10 days of the month, after the election. But despite that, sales volumes were well down and had dropped month-on-month for 11 consecutive months.

All twelve regions reported a drop in sales volume compared to 2013, led by Taranaki with a 31.5% drop, then Auckland and Nelson/Marlborough with 17.1%.

The number of sales below $400,000 fell by 18.2% natrionwide.

“A key theme reported by agents across the entire country is a lack of new listings. Unusually, listing levels are low even in Auckland where prices are at historically high levels, with the increased prices not tempting vendors into the market. There has been some pick up in listings in line with the start of spring, albeit not at the usual levels for this time of year. This may in part be a lag effect from the election - as with sales activity, listing interest is reported as having picked up in the last week of the September. We will be closely watching listing levels in October as a continued lack of choice is frustrating would-be buyers,” O’Sullivan said.

Compared to 2013, the national median house price was up $20,000. Central Otago Lakes reported the biggest year-on-year price increase, of 14.3%. That was followed by Taranaki with 11.6% and Canterbury/Westland with 10.1%.

The REINZ Stratified Housing Price Index, which adjusts for some of the variations in the mix that can impact on the median price, is 4.1% higher than September 2013, at 3933.5. The Auckland Index has risen 7.7% compared to September 2013, with the Christchurch Index up 7.1% and the Wellington Index up 1.7%.

Dwellings took four days longer to sell in September 2014 than they did in 2013.

For the month of September, Canterbury/Westland recorded the shortest days to sell at 30 days, followed by Auckland and Otago at 31 days.