Sales volumes plummet to 2001 level – REINZ

Latest Real Estate Institute data shows July sales slid to 6660 from 7474 in June – the lowest July sales figures since July 2001.

Thursday, August 9th 2007, 4:45PM

by The Landlord

This is also well below the 9285 sales in May, which fed into a new national record median selling price of $350,000 that month.

Compared to a year ago, house sales are down 14.3%.

In July, residential property prices dropped $2500 from June, with the national median selling price slipping to $345,000.

REINZ president Murray Cleland says July prices appeared quite soft in some regions with “very low” sales volumes “exaggerating” the price falls.

“It does look like the consolidation noted last month is continuing,” Cleland says.

However, he doesn’t believe the market is going into a “full-scale retreat”.

ANZ economists in the bank’s Economic Review today says it expects further softness for the housing market ahead given the 6.2% July price fall on the back of the 7% fall in the previous month.

Six of the 12 regions recorded median house price falls in the month with the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions leading the way.

It was the Auckland market that prevented a potentially greater fall in the national median price with an unchanged monthly median of $445,000 following strong performances by the North Shore, Waitakere and Auckland city property markets.

Regional commentary
Northland continued its recent strong performance with a rise in the June median of $315,000 to $316,500 for July, putting Northland into second spot in annual percentage price growth with a figure of 17.98%.

The Waikato and Bay of Plenty region was less buoyant, with the district median down from $325,000 in June to $320,000; with medians down in Hamilton city, Mount Maunganui/Papamoa and Tauranga, among others.

However Hawkes Bay went completely against the trend with a sharp jump in its median price from $268,100 to $287,000 in July, after a jump in the Hastings median from $257,000 to $279,000 and the Napier median up from $309,750 to $311,000.

The Manawatu/Wanganui median was down after period of strong prices, from $248,000 in June to $230,000 in July.

Taranaki followed suit, down from $265,000 to $255,000 in July and Wellington lost ground down from $375,000 to $360,000.

Nelson/Marlborough was down from $335,000 to $320,000 but Canterbury/Westland showed good strength with the median up from $305,250 in June to $310,000 in July, assisted by an unchanged Christchurch city median of $330,000, and increases in Rangiora, North Canterbury and Timaru.

Central Otago Lake’s district median was up from $420,000 in June to $452,500 in July mainly on the back of a jump in the Queenstown median price from $442,500 to $592,500 as a result of sales of a number of higher priced properties.

Otago experienced a small fall in its median from $230,000 in June to $227,875, despite an increase in the Dunedin city median from $240,000 to $247,000 in July.

However, as in recent months, Southland ran rings around the rest of the country with its median up again, this time from $177,750 to $185,000 in July, with Invercargill property prices jumping from $188,000 in June to $197,000 in July.

As a result Southland remains the region with the greatest annual residential property price growth, up 26.71% on the July 2006 median of $146,000.

« Auckland property prices steady in July

Property market continues to slow: QV »

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