Winter hits house sales

The winter effect hit the housing market with a vengeance in June with the number of sales falling sharply and the median house price easing from May, although the market remains buoyant compared with June last year.

Monday, August 5th 2002, 6:48AM

by Jenny Ruth

The latest Real Estate Institute figures show the number of house sales fell from 9061 in May to 7,486 in June but were well up from the 6,147 homes sold in June last year.

The median house price dipped from $188,000 in May to $184,000 in June, but was well up on the $177,000 median price in June last year.

"The total number of homes sold always tends to ease back in the winter months and, after all the excitement in the market so far this year, we view June’s returns as a seasonal adjustment," says institute president Rex Hadley.

The figures show activity fell in all 11 regions in June compared with May, but was up compared with June last year in all regions except in Wellington. The median price rose in June in all but three regions compared with June last year. It fell in Northland and was unchanged in the Nelson/Marlborough and Canterbury/Westland regions.

Compared with May, the median house price fell in eight of the regions but rose in the Manawatu/Wanganui, Canterbury/Westland and Otago regions.

In the key Auckland market, the median house price fell from $266,000 in May to $261,800 in June but was up from $253,000 in June last year. The number of houses sold in Auckland fell from 3,268 in May to 2,657 but that was well up on the 2,077 houses sold in June last year.

TOTAL DWELLINGS MEDIAN PRICE COMPARISONS FOR 1996 – 2002

REGION	JUNE 02	MAY 02	JUNE 01	JUNE 00
Northland	154,000	170,000	158,000	153,000
Auckland	261,800	266,000	253,000	236,500
Waikato/BOP/Gisborne	164,500	165,000	157,500	160,000
Hawke’s Bay	132,000	133,000	126,000	115,000
Manawatu/Wanganui	105,000	104,000	101,500	103,000
Taranaki	108,000	110,000	92,000	118,000
Wellington	198,000	204,000	195,000	190,000
Nelson/Marlborough	154,000	157,500	154,000	140,000
Canterbury/Westland	140,000	139,000	140,000	145,000
Otago	110,000	97,000	100,000	95,000
Southland	78,500	85,000	65,000	68,500
NZ Total	184,000	$188,000	$177,000	$170,000