Auckland's stable median price will be welcome news for first home buyers, says REINZ
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House prices have risen across New Zealand throughout July, with a 6.2% increase being recorded year-on-year. According to the latest data from REINZ, the median price for the country is now $550,000, with Auckland being the only region to record a minor fall of 0.1%.
The regions of Northland, Taranaki, Nelson and Marlborough saw record prices in July – the second month in a row for Marlborough, which saw a 13.4% increase to $453,500. The number of houses sold has been holding steady, with a 0.7% increase of 42 additional properties being recorded compared to the same time last year. In Auckland, the number of properties sold increased by 2.1%.
The REINZ House Price Index (HPI) saw all regions excluding Auckland increase by 8.0% from July 2017 to a new record high, with Auckland increasing 1.6% year-on-year. The median number of days to sell a property increase by one day, from 36 days in July 2017 to 37 days in July 2018.
In terms of price bands, the number of homes sold for less than $500,000 across New Zealand fell from 47.8% of the market to 42.4% of the market, which reflects the overall increasing median price across the country. According to REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell, first-time buyers looking for an affordable home should turn their focus to the West Coast, as 55.6% of all properties there are below the $250,000 mark.
The only region with no properties available below the $250,000 threshold was Nelson, with even Auckland recording a 1.05% proportion of properties available below the mark.
“The shortage of properties available for sale across the country is continuing to push prices up in all regions across the country except for Auckland,” said Norwell. “With July producing another four regions with record median prices, we desperately need to increase the supply of new houses – be that through KiwiBuild or from private developers and builders – in order to fill the significant shortage of properties around the country.”
“The stability of Auckland’s median price will be welcome news for first time buyers struggling with Auckland’s house prices,” Norwell stated. “But time will tell whether the low to mid $800,000 mark is a longer-term trend.”
