Auckland house prices down 10.2% in Jan from peak, but will bounce, says Barfoot's

Auckland's largest real estate agency group, Barfoot and Thompson, reported an average sale price of NZ$502,636 in January 2009, down from NZ$509,513 in December 2008 and down 10.2% from their peak in December 2007. Its level of sales rose to 515 from 461 in December, but were down 15% from January 2008. Barfoot's handles about 40% of sales in Auckland. REINZ figures for sales nationally are expected next week. Barfoots reported 975 new listings in January, its lowest January figures for a decade. This was up from 862 listings in December. "But keep in mind, that's a shorter month with the Christmas break," Barfoot and Thompson Managing Director Peter Thompson told interest.co.nz. New listings in November were 1,407. "It indicates that many people have made the decision to hold properties rather than sell, while buying activity remains fairly constant," Thompson said. "The trend in rental activity also endorses the view that owners are holding on to property. In January we let 791 houses and units, the highest number we have let in one month for the past 7 years," he said. Barfoots said prices in the Auckland market were stabilising, with the January average price less than 1% below the average for the last quarter. Thompson said he anticipated this market sentiment would hold for the next two to three months. He also said there was potential for the average sale price to rise over the next quarter. "As is traditional over the holiday period, the number of homes sold in the NZ$750,000 and over NZ$1 million categories are lower than the average across the year." "Past history would suggest that sales in these categories will lift in the next quarter, so the potential for a modest uplift in the average selling price is there."