Despite this, Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson says the market is far from being in full retreat in the face of rising mortgage interest rates, the return of inflation and low consumer economic confidence.
The agency sold 700 properties last month, up from 627 in October, but down from 1,182 or -41% compared to November last year. The 700 homes sold in the month was the highest for the past six months.
“Property is selling, albeit at a level lower than at the same time last year. What it demonstrates is vendors and buyers are reaching an agreement as to where prices are at,” says Thompson.
New listings for the month at 1,577, up from 1,371 in September but were down significantly on those for November in the past few years. At the end of last month the agency had 5,052 homes on our books, up 28% on November last year and the highest number for any month for 11 years.
The median sales price at $1,065,000 eased down 2.2% on the average median price over the past three months. November’s median price is down 14.1% on the peak median price ever recorded in November last year but has remained stable for the past three months, says Thompson.
The average price for the month, at $1,153,795, which is more influenced by sales in the top price categories, tells a different story, he says.
November’s average sales price is down only 9.8% percent on the peak average price, recorded in December last year. The month’s average price rose over that for October by 1.5%.
Thompson says the average sales price in November was influenced by a return of buyers to the $2 million and over price bracket and the number of sales in the under $750,000 price category. “Many of the buyers in the lower-price sector would have been first-time buyers.”
Last month Barfoot & Thompson sold 64 properties for more than $2 million, 19 of them being for more than $3 million. This is the highest number of homes valued at more than $3 million it has sold in a month for six months.
At the same time, the agency sold 125 homes for under $750,000, or 17.9% of all the homes sold.
“Buyer choice in Auckland has rarely been greater in recent times,” Thompson says.
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