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Barfoot & Thompson has best June in 11 years as prices set new records, but calls for easing of LVR restrictions on under $500k houses

Property
Barfoot & Thompson has best June in 11 years as prices set new records, but calls for easing of LVR restrictions on under $500k houses

The average price of homes sold by Barfoot & Thompson hit a new all time high of $826,474 in June.

The median price, regarded by many as a more reliable indicator of the market, also set a new high of $786,000, compared with $750,000 in May and $626,500 in June last year.

That means the median price of homes sold by the agency, which is Auckland's largest by a substantial margin, has increased by $159,500 in the last 12 months, which means the prices have risen by 25.5% in the last year, equivalent to $3067 a week.

The company sold 1167 homes in June, down slightly from the 1225 it sold in May but still ahead of the 1037 home sit sold in June last year.

Only 13.6% of the homes sold in June were sold for less than $500,000, while almost a third of sales (370) sold for more than $1 million.

The company signed up 1749 new listings in June, which was barely changed from the 1740 it signed up in May, but hugely ahead of the 1149 new listings it achieved in June last year.

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said the number of homes the company sold last month was the highest for any June month in the last 11 years.

"Auction remained very popular and during the month three out of every four homes put up for auction sold under the hammer," he said.

Buyers may face a limited choice of properties available for sale over the winter months, with the total number of homes the company had available for sale on its books dropping to 2959, which was the lowest number since January.

Call for easing of LVR restrictions

However Thompson warned that prices may be starting to flatten.

"While the new government and Reserve Bank measures which are due to come into effect in October are likely to be having some impact on prices, as will the approach of winter, there is also a growing feeling among buyers and sellers that homes are close to being fully priced," he said.

Given just 159, or 13.6%, of homes sold by Barfoot & Thompson in June went for under $500,000, Thompson suggested the Reserve Bank's 20% deposit restrictions were "severely impacting sales numbers in this price category." 

"An easing of restrictions as it relates to homes of $500,000 and below would potentially redress the current declining sales trend, and also help lower the average selling price," Thompson said.

Barfoot Auckland

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17 Comments

"which means the prices have risen by 25.5% in the last year, equivalent to $3067 a week."

That's $30,670 a week for Property Investors with 10 properties. Or $1,594,840 for the year!! Beats working!

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That is an inevitable consequence when the residential property market is open up to global competition, and the current regulation towards owning and investing in residential properties are more favorable than ones towards any other forms of asset in New Zealand, and than owning and investing in similar assets in other countries.

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yes indeed!

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Well what do people expect? Kiwisaver...and other retirement schemes.......investment funds.......growth......cycle......

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You would only get this if you sold....otherwise it's an unrealised asset....unrealised being the operative word, here.

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This is "BREAKING NEWS"?
Really?
.
I mean, come on.
Stop with this nonsense, already, and report some actual news.

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well, we got up from the casino table and walked away to pocket our winnings. have just sold up and cashed out. our auckland house more than doubled in five years. now moving overseas. personally we can say hooray and phew. but wtf for nz society at this rampant house/debt inflation. good luck new zealand!

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Where are you heading?

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This comment is so negative, hopeless, and true.

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Urgers at work

Bernard Hickey ‏@bernardchickey tweets
Barfoot says Auckland house price inflation slows from 6.5%/mnth to 4.8%/mth.
Calls for easing of LVR restrictions
http://barfoot.co.nz/market-reports/2015/june/market-update

So

Auckland house price inflation slows from an annualised rate of 78% down to an annualised rate of 57% .. and Thompson calls for LVR restrictions to be eased ??

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At the same time our house prices are increasing, our total debt increases at a rate of $530 per second (http://johnpemberton.co.nz/html/total_debt_.html)

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Much of that is private debt, so are you saying we should stop adults borrowing?

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That private debt can quickly turn into public debt with a financial crisis and bank bailouts.
Ireland 30% Debt/GDP -> 124%
UK 40% Debt/GDP -> 90%

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It could indeed, hence why I like the OBR, now whether the Govn of the day would have the balls to use it is another matter.

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I think that call would be made at the very top, a political call.

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wont ever happen as our politicians would lose out, so they will make sure they their families and friends are protected.
they will do a toxic debt swap and move it to the government books then claim they need to sell all the remaining silverware to pay it off

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Forward! Over the cliff edge,
unthinking buying
Such rational behaviour

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