House prices hit record high: REINZ
The national median house price rose 3.5% in October to a record high of $324,000, breaking out of its winter range, the Real Estate Institute says.
Thursday, November 16th 2006, 12:00AM
by The Landlord
The price increase appeared to be a one-off, seasonal occurrence, following four months of yo-yoing within a narrow band, institute vice-president Mike Elford said.
"Clearly there has been a lot of pent up demand over recent months and this has manifested itself in October, driven by increasing buyer demand, a shortage of listings, plus more confidence among vendors," he said.
The Reserve Bank's decision to hold interest rates steady last month, and retail banks lowering mortgage rates, had also spurred buyers.
The number of houses sold by institute members rose 2.1% from September to 8857, while days to sell fell to 29 from 31 the previous month.
Annual house price growth accelerated again, to 9.83% from 7.93% in September. However, that is well below the annual growth of 16.8% in October 2005.
Prices rose in 10 of the 12 regions, while sale numbers fell in five regions.
Northland had the largest regional rise, up 9.4% to $306,250, followed by Wellington (up 7.9% to $355,000), and Southland (up 7.1% to $150,000).
Metropolitan Auckland saw prices rise 3.8% to $415,000, Nelson/Marlborough was unchanged at $310,000, and Central Otago Lakes fell 2.5% to $430,000.
This month, government agency Quotable Value said growth in residential property values in the year to October was 9.6%, below 10% for the first time since monthly records began in February 2005.
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