NZ home sales ease in April, REINZ figures show

NZ home sales ease in April, REINZ figures show

By Hannah Lynch

May 9 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand housing sales eased in April, with the national medium price slipping from March's record high.

Sales rose 13.8 percent to 5,676 in April when compared with the same month a year earlier, the Real Estate Institute said. The national median house price eased $5,000 to $365,000 after reaching a record high of $370,000 in March. It rose 1.4 percent on the same period a year earlier.

Prices in the Hawkes Bay reached a fresh high, rising 9 percent to $295,000, followed by Canterbury/Westland up 3.5 percent and Auckland up 2 percent.

“While the national median price has pulled back from the record set last month the trend is still moving up, although not at a great pace," Helen O'Sullivan, chief executive. "The new record median price for Hawkes Bay is indicative of some improvement in activity in the regions, although for the most part activity remains flat outside the markets of Auckland and Christchurch.”

The medium number of days to sell a house increased to 37 from 35 in March. Over the past five years the medium days to sell a house has averaged 41 days across New Zealand.

Canterbury and Westland recorded the shortest days to sell a home on 30, followed by Auckland at 33 days and Otago with 35 days.

Central Otago recorded the longest number of days to sell at 59 days.

The total value of residential sales, including sections fell to $2.57 billion in April from $3.35 billion in March and down $2.21 billion on April 2011.

(BusinessDesk)

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