Barfoots says house sales, volumes up in March, but prices to ease as winter nears

Auckland's biggest real estate agency group, Barfoot and Thompson, has reported a rise in sales volumes and average prices in March, but says prices are likely to ease in line with seasonal patterns as the winter approaches. The average sale price rose 4.6% to NZ$545,156 in March from February. This was NZ$53,000 higher than in March a year ago. There were 927 properties sold in March, which Barfoots said was the highest for any month since June 2007 and up slightly on March a year ago. House sales in Auckland in March edged ahead of those for March last year, and were at their highest for any month since June 2007. Here is the full release below from Barfoot and Thompson:

“Seasonally, March is always among the stronger sales months, and this year was no exception,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson. “Prices in March continued on their upward trend with the average sale price increasing to $545,156. “This is up 4.6 percent on that for the previous month, and is also more than $53,000 higher than the average price being paid in March last year. “We also sold 927 properties, which was marginally ahead of the number we sold in March last year. “You have to go back to March 2007 to find a month when the combination of average price and sales numbers was higher that what we achieved last month.” Mr Thompson said that if monthly fluctuations were evened out, based on its sales data the average house prices across Auckland had risen 3.2 percent, or $16,000, to close to $528,000 in the last 12 months. “The influx of people into Auckland, growing confidence in the economy, excellent choice and the Indian summer combined to create a busy first quarter’s trading. “The number of new listings in March at 1671, while down on February’s 1714, was still excellent and, at the start of April we had 6267 homes on our books, comparable to the number at this time last year.” Mr Thompson said the housing market was ‘balanced’ and did not favour either buyers or sellers. “Our experience is the majority of sellers are putting realistic values on their properties, while buyers are not solely intent on bargain hunting. “It’s creating a market where a lot of properties are changing hands. “Based on normal seasonal patterns, prices can be expected to ease as we move into autumn.” Barfoot & Thompson let 823 houses, apartments and units in March, up 16.7 percent on those for February and 11.1 percent up on the number let in March 2009. The average weekly rent climbed back to $401, the same rent as for January and $11 higher than in February. “Our data is showing no significant changes taking place in the rental market. “Availability and demand remains high, and we see the modest increase in rents of between 2 and 3 percent that started in the last quarter of last year as a natural edging up after two years of rent stability.”