Sales numbers up but pace slowing: REINZ

More houses sold in February than in any February month for six years, the latest Real Estate Institute Statistics reveal.

Tuesday, March 12th 2013, 12:00AM

by The Landlord

The 6632 residential property sales last month was up 34% on January.

The national median price rose 7.6% to $382,000 compared to February 2012 but remains below the record $389,000 established last December.

REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan said the rate of growth in the number of transactions was slowing despite prices being near record levels. The year-on-year increase in February 2012 on the same month the year before was 34.4%, while the increase in February 2013 on February 2012 was a more modest 7.5%.

“Supply shortages in Auckland and Christchurch are the main constraint, resulting in double-digit price increases in those regions with the median days to sell from listing at around 33 days. Across the rest of the country activity is more modest which is reflected in smaller increases in regional median prices."

All but two regions recorded increases in sales volume compared to February last year, with Northland recording an increase of 28.7%, followed by Auckland with 15.6% and Wellington with 11.7%.

Canterbury/Westland recorded a new record high median of $355,000 in February with a 3.2% increase compared to January. All but two regions recorded an increase in median price in February compared to January, with Northland recording a 17.8% increase. The national median house price is up 7.6% compared to February 2012, with the Auckland median price up 14.3%, followed by Central Otago Lakes with 13.9% and Canterbury/Westland with 7.4%.

Compared to February 2012, the number of days to sell improved by seven days.

Nationally there were 1238 dwellings sold by auction in February representing 18.7% of all sales, an increase of 80.5% on the number of dwellings sold by auction in February 2012.

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