Residential prices rise again

Residential prices rise again

The national median price for residential property continued to defy expectations during November with a rise from $227,000 in October to a new record of $235,000 for November 2003, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

However it was Wellington and the regions which drove the median up, with Auckland showing signs of easing a little, although apartment sales may have had an impact on the Auckland median, according to REINZ National President Mr Graeme Woodley. The Auckland region median was down from $325,770 in October to $320,000 in November, but Wellington continued its recent surge with a further increase from $257,000 to $262,000, while Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Nelson/Marlborough and Otago all recorded solid increases.

Mr Woodley said the latest increase in the national median was prior to recent interest rate increases, but the Institute believed rate increases were unlikely to affect the market much. Instead immigration and a housing shortage in some areas were supporting prices. Also it appeared many of the regions were ‘playing catch-up’ on the strong increases experienced by some of the larger centres, earlier this year, he said.

“The Auckland situation is interesting because the median declined on an increase in monthly sales from 3,666 in October to 3,838 in November, and a number of the Auckland suburbs recorded increased medians such as North Shore, Waitakere and Papakura. But the medians for Auckland City and Manukau were down as was the metropolitan Auckland median. This suggests to us that the market in areas such as North Shore remains strong, but that the huge volume of apartment sales may be affecting the Auckland median price.”

The North Shore median was up from $371,365 to $377,000 and Waitakere was up from $258,175 to $272,000.

Auckland City was down from $396,500 to $381,000 and Manukau was down from $321,000 to $280,000. Metropolitan Auckland declined from $337,000 to $328,000.

Apart from Auckland, two other regions experienced reduced medians, with the Northland median declining from $185,000 in October to $176,500, the Southland median was also down from $133,500 to $115,990.

Regions recording increases included Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne up from $186,500 in October to $189,500 in November, Hawkes Bay up from $172,750 in October to $180,000, Manawatu/Wanganui up from $116,750 to $118,000 and Taranaki up from $134,000 to $140,500.

Nelson Marlborough continued to outpace the rest with an increase from $251,200 to $261,000 while Otago also showed a good increase from $146,000 to $155,500.

Canterbury/Westland was up slightly from $179,000 to $180,000 although the Christchurch City median was down slightly from $205,225 to $200,100, while Dunedin City was up from $144,750 to $157,750 and Wellington Central was up from $335,000 to $343,000.

National sales were down slightly from 10,923 in October to 10,722 in November, with Auckland sales up as mentioned, but a number of areas recording lower sales including Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne down from 1,922 in October to 1,868, Wellington down from 1,139 to 1,127 , Canterbury/Westland down from 1,432 to 1,230, and Otago down from 605 to 519.

Consistent with its strong median increase, Nelson/Marlborough sales were up from 299 in October to 323, indicating the market there continues to be active.

On a year by year basis the New Zealand median increased by 20.5 per cent over November 2002 with leading increases including Nelson/Marlborough up 48.7 per cent, Southland up 37.5 per cent, Otago up 34.6 per cent, Hawkes Bay up 28.6 per cent, Taranaki up 22.2 per cent, Canterbury/Westland up 20 per cent, Wellington up 18 per cent and Auckland up 14.3 per cent.

The median days to sell remained at 24 days with Auckland and Wellington both lengthening slightly from 23 to 24 days but Canterbury/Westland shortened from 19 to 17 days and Otago showed strong demand with a fall in days to sell from 22 days to 19.

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