No sign of December slowdown: REINZ

REINZ has released its data for last month, showing 7064 dwelling sales, up 24.2% on December 2013 and down 5.7% from November. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, sales were up 4.6% on November.

The national median price was $450,000, up 5.4% on 2013.

Auckland recorded the largest percentage increase in median price compared to December 2013, with a 13% lift, followed by Wellington with a 3.8% increase and Waikato/Bay of Plenty with a 2.7% increase.  Compared to November, Auckland recorded the largest percentage increase in median price, up 1.2%, followed by Taranaki with a 0.6% increase.

REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan said: “The data for December shows very strong sales growth compared to 12 months ago and a much higher level of sales that we would normally expect for the final month of the year.  The effect has been seen right across the country, with a number of regions seeing further increases in sales in December after a strong November.  The normal December slowdown hasn’t really happened in 2014.”