The Auckland housing market remains extremely subdued with the region's largest real estate agency reporting the lowest sales volume for the month of June since 2010.
Barfoot & Thompson sold 786 residential properties in June, down 13% on June last year and the lowest number for the month of June since 2010.
The real estate agency's sales have been at nine year lows in three of the last four months.
The decline in listings was even steeper, with the agency receiving 1012 new listings in June, down 16.4% compared to June last year and the lowest number of new listings in the month of June in at least 11 years.
The lower number of new listings helped to keep total inventory levels at a manageable volume, with the agency having 4085 residential properties available for sale at the end of June, the lowest number since August last year and down 4.3% compared to June last year.
While sales volumes were down, prices remained relatively stable. Barfoot's average selling price was $939,945 in June, up $10,953 from $928,992 in May. That's the highest it has been since December last year, but is still down from the record high of $968,570 set in March 2017.
The median selling price was $845,000 in June, down $5,000 from $850,000 in May, and well below the record of $900,000 set in March 2017. The latest figures suggest prices are continuing to fluctuate within a fairly narrow pricing band.
Barfoot & Thompson Managing Director Peter Thompson said properties priced between $1 million and $2 million sold well in June and accounted for 34.6% of total sales, while just 6.4% of sales were for less than $500,000.
"While prices in June remained solid and sales numbers were modest, there were a number of underlying trends that suggest greater activity was building than has been present over the last few months," he said.
"There are more first time buyers looking, there is a shortage of properties in the $800,000 to $1 million price segment resulting in competition for properties, vendors are more inclined to meet the market and banks are showing more interest in lending.
"All are positive signs for vendors who are prepared to price their properties at market," he said.
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