The REINZ has released its house price data for January, which revealed a 0.7% seasonally adjusted monthly rise in the national median house price, with prices also up 7.0% year-on-year:
Outside Auckland, seasonally adjusted house prices rose by 0.6% in January, with prices up 8.9% year-on-year.
Looking at the major cities, Auckland’s seasonally adjusted median house price fell by 1.2% and was down by 1.8% year-on-year. Christchurch’s (Canterbury) rose by 1.0% in January and was up 2.9% year-on-year. Whereas Wellington’s median house price was down 1.1% in January but was up 9.2% year-on-year:
Sales volumes look to be finding a bottom following a prolonged period of falls, down only 0.6% year-on-year in seasonally adjusted terms across New Zealand:
Finally, here are the sales by price point:
As you can see, sales have lifted at the lower-end (sub-$500,000) but fallen at the higher end.
Commenting on the results, REINZ chief executive, Bindi Norwell, noted that January’s hot weather lifted sales volumes for the first time in seven months, whereas price growth is no longer being driven by Auckland:
“January can often be a quiet month for the industry as people spend much of their time at the beach or the bach. However, clearly the warmer weather has helped sales, as it’s the first time we’ve seen a positive year-on-year sales increase in seven months.
“There were some really positive figures from around the country, with 11 out of 16 regions experiencing an increase in sales when compared to the same time last year. Additionally, Gisborne saw the highest number of properties sold in the month of January since January 2007,” continues Norwell…
“House prices across the country continue to hold up with 14 out of 16 regions experiencing a year-on-year price increase. Otago’s record price for January was driven by a strong increase in Clutha and the Central Otago District – up 53.4% and 39.4% respectively,” says Norwell.
