Property

Auckland’s November sales at four year high

Sales activity continues to improve in Auckland with new Barfoot & Thompson data revealing their best November sales numbers since 2015.

Tuesday, December 03rd 2019

The real estate agency saw 960 sales in November, which was a 16.5% increase on October’s 824 sales and a 2% increase on the 941 sales seen at the same time last year.

Barfoot & Thompson director Kiri Barfoot says sales were the highest in a month since March this year and the highest they have been in a November since 2015.

“Activity has not returned to the heydays experienced at the height of the previous price cycle but Auckland sales have certainly shrugged off the modest turnover and price movements experienced over the past two years.”

The results, which show committed buyers have returned to the market, were foreshadowed by strong sales in October, and the lift the market received then has flowed into significantly higher prices in November, she says.

November’s median price of $891,000 was up by 5.8% on the average for the past three months and by 4.7% on last November’s median price of $850,750.

The average price of $963,671 in November was up by 3.5% on the average for the last three months and by 2.8% on last November’s average price of $937,792.

According to Barfoot, monthly price increases of this size were last seen when the market was at its strongest in 2016 through to the early part of 2017.

But a contributing factor to the price increases is the declining pool of properties on the market.

“In November we listed 1,517 new properties and, although this is one of our higher monthly numbers this year, it is our lowest in a November for 11 years,” she says.

“At month end we had only 3,703 properties on our books, close to a quarter lower than we had at the same time last year.

“The end result is that when high quality properties reach the market there is determined competition among committed buyers which is driving prices higher.”

The agency has a high number of signed up and conditional sales in the pipeline, Barfoot  adds.

“So the prospects of November being a rogue month is unlikely and we see an active market remaining through to year end and continuing into the first quarter of 2020.”

Comments

No comments yet

Most Read

SBS FirstHome Combo 4.29
Unity First Home Buyer special 4.29
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 4.85
China Construction Bank 4.85
ICBC 4.85
TSB Special 4.89
Kiwibank Special 4.89
ASB Bank 4.89
Westpac Special 4.89
BNZ - Std 4.89
AIA - Go Home Loans 4.89
Nelson Building Society 4.93
ICBC 4.95
SBS Bank Special 4.95
China Construction Bank 4.95
Wairarapa Building Society 4.95
TSB Special 4.95
ANZ Special 4.95
ASB Bank 4.95
Kainga Ora 4.95
Westpac Special 4.95
AIA - Go Home Loans 4.95
SBS Bank Special 5.39
Westpac Special 5.39
ICBC 5.39
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.59
BNZ - Std 5.59
BNZ - Classic 5.59
AIA - Go Home Loans 5.59
ASB Bank 5.59
Kainga Ora 5.69
Kiwibank Special 5.79
ANZ 5.79
SBS Construction lending for FHB 3.94
AIA - Back My Build 4.44
CFML 321 Loans 4.99
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.95
Co-operative Bank - Standard 5.95
Heartland Bank - Online 5.99
Pepper Money Prime 6.29
Kiwibank - Offset 6.35
Kiwibank 6.35
TSB Special 6.39
ASB Bank 6.44

More Stories

Four decades of 6-7% yearly house price growth ending

Friday, March 21st 2025

Four decades of 6-7% yearly house price growth ending

New Zealander’s reliance on property capital gains in the mid-single digits is at an end.

[TMM Podcast] Yelsa serves up “marine reserve” of property buyers

Friday, January 31st 2025

[TMM Podcast] Yelsa serves up “marine reserve” of property buyers

It’s been years in the making and former real estate agent Mike Harvey is now coming to market with his platform matching buyers and sellers, an offering he says will be a gamechanger for the industry.

Leaving last year's stumbling housing market behind

Friday, January 17th 2025

Leaving last year's stumbling housing market behind

As interest rates ease and job losses climb, New Zealand’s housing market faces a mixed year of modest growth, with conflicting forces shaping the outlook for homebuyers and investors.

Don’t bet on house prices rising faster than incomes

Wednesday, January 15th 2025

Don’t bet on house prices rising faster than incomes

Former Reserve Bank Governor and National Party leader Don Brash says there are grounds for believing that house prices may finally have ended the three-decade period when they rose significantly faster than incomes.