Powerhouse regions continue to rise

According to the data, the national average asking price rose by 2.9% in October to new high of $618,000.

This is up from September’s average asking price of $600,850 and is a year-on-year increase of 8.1%.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said the market was coming back to life and that over $17,000 has been added to the average asking price over the last month.

The unrelenting march upwards of the Auckland property market continued in October with a 2.9% increase in average asking price, he said.

Auckland’s average asking price hit a record $897,300 in October, as compared to September’s $871,800.

This is a year-on-year rise of 13.2% and an increase of $380,000 over the last five years.

Jeffries said Auckland’s $380,000 price jump eclipses the current median expected selling price in five regions around the country - Gisborne, Manawatu, Southland, Taranaki and the West Coast.

However, the “Auckland effect” meant that six regions recorded new record average asking prices in October, he said.

They were the Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, Waikato and Wellington.

“The ripples from the Auckland effect saw those six regions feeling the direct result”, Jeffries said.

“The Waikato experienced the biggest leap, landing at $485,600. That’s a 4% lift in the last month and a 25% boost over the past 12 months.

“In dollar terms, that’s almost $100,000 added to the bottom line in only a year.”

While the Waikato market saw the biggest year-on-year growth in average asking price, it was followed by the Bay of Plenty which saw growth of 16% and Northland which was up by 14.6%.

Only two regions saw a year-on-year decline in price growth. They were the Hawkes Bay (down 6.1%) and the West Coast (down 10.8%).

Jeffries said that, overall, the rest of the country saw pretty strong activity.

But average asking prices for urban properties – apartments, townhouses and units – are struggling to keep pace with traditional houses, he added.

“In the urban property market, units are the only property type keeping up with the traditional housing market with strong lifts in average asking price in both Auckland and Wellington.”