Barfoot & Thompson has best June in 11 years as prices set new records, but calls for easing of LVR restrictions on under $500k houses

The average price of homes sold by Barfoot & Thompson hit a new all time high of $826,474 in June.

The median price, regarded by many as a more reliable indicator of the market, also set a new high of $786,000, compared with $750,000 in May and $626,500 in June last year.

That means the median price of homes sold by the agency, which is Auckland's largest by a substantial margin, has increased by $159,500 in the last 12 months, which means the prices have risen by 25.5% in the last year, equivalent to $3067 a week.

The company sold 1167 homes in June, down slightly from the 1225 it sold in May but still ahead of the 1037 home sit sold in June last year.

Only 13.6% of the homes sold in June were sold for less than $500,000, while almost a third of sales (370) sold for more than $1 million.

The company signed up 1749 new listings in June, which was barely changed from the 1740 it signed up in May, but hugely ahead of the 1149 new listings it achieved in June last year.

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said the number of homes the company sold last month was the highest for any June month in the last 11 years.

"Auction remained very popular and during the month three out of every four homes put up for auction sold under the hammer," he said.

Buyers may face a limited choice of properties available for sale over the winter months, with the total number of homes the company had available for sale on its books dropping to 2959, which was the lowest number since January.

Call for easing of LVR restrictions

However Thompson warned that prices may be starting to flatten.

"While the new government and Reserve Bank measures which are due to come into effect in October are likely to be having some impact on prices, as will the approach of winter, there is also a growing feeling among buyers and sellers that homes are close to being fully priced," he said.

Given just 159, or 13.6%, of homes sold by Barfoot & Thompson in June went for under $500,000, Thompson suggested the Reserve Bank's 20% deposit restrictions were "severely impacting sales numbers in this price category." 

"An easing of restrictions as it relates to homes of $500,000 and below would potentially redress the current declining sales trend, and also help lower the average selling price," Thompson said.

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