The housing market finished last year with a whimper rather than a roar, according to Trade Me Property.
The average asking price of homes advertised on the website dropped from $568,950 in November to $553,250 in December.
However there were differences between the three main centres with average asking prices rising slightly in Auckland and falling in Wellington and Christchurch.
In Auckland the average asking price rose from $803,900 in November to $805,300 in December, an increase of just 0.2%, while in Wellington the average asking price slipped from $460,200 in November to $454,650 in December and in Christchurch it dropped form $470,500 in November to $466,550 in December.
The annual rate at which the asking prices of properties advertised on the website have been increasing is also declining.
In November the average national asking price was up 11.8% compared to a year earlier but in December that had dropped back to 9.7%.
The head of Trade Me Property, Nigel Jeffries, said last year was one of the most heated on record for the Auckland property market and the cool down at the end of the year was unsurprising.
"For a year that witnessed unprecedented rises in expected selling prices, the market ended the year on a subdued note," he said.
There was a particularly big decline in asking prices for apartments, with the average asking price of apartments advertised on the website dropping from $560,200 in November to $548,700 in December.
In Auckland, which is the largest market by far for apartments, the average asking price dropped from $601,850 in November to $582,450 in December.
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