Harcourts has reported a slight increase in nationwide property sales in July from June as average sale prices rose in all but one of the five regions they report on. These figures come a week after Auckland's largest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson, reported a 9.5% fall in sales volumes and a 2.8% fall in its average sale price in July. Harcourts is a national agency, but is strongest in Christchurch.

The figures also come a day before the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand releases its new house price measure, designed with the help of the Reserve Bank. The new measure is expected to show similar results to the QV Index, which showed nationwide house prices rose 0.7% in the three months to July from the three months to June.

Harcourts reported 1869 written sales in July, up from 1813 in June. The number of sales was up from 1375 in July 2008.

"Last month saw a pleasing increase in the amount of exclusive Harcourts listings when compared with the previous month and with July 2008 too, but perhaps the most graphic display of sellers' reaction to the current market is the significant lift in auction and tender campaigns secured in July 2009 compared to July 2008 and the solid growth in these listings on last month too," CEO Bryan Thomson said.

"This clearly shows that more sellers are looking to maximise their price through competition while avoiding driving buyers away through an over-optimistic fixed priced strategy," Thomson said.

Harcourts' average sale price in the Northern region rose 12% over the month to NZ$525,000 and was up 12% from a year ago. In the Central region, the average price rose 3.6% to NZ$345,000, although was down 27% year-on-year. In Wellington, the average price rose 1.7% from June to NZ$307,000 and was down 7% from a year ago, while the average Christchurch sale price was steady at NZ$366,000, down 1% from July 2008. The average sale price for properties in the rest of the South Island rose 1.4% over the month to NZ$284,000, but this was down 32% from 2008.

Harcourts said the sharply lower average sale prices in Central North Island and provincial South Island were due in part to a slow or stalled rural market in both areas.