Spring house sales bounce absent as sales fall in November, median price unchanged (Update 2)

The expected spring bounce in house sales has still yet to materialise, with nationwide sales falling slightly in November from October, figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show. (Update 2 includes price brackets showing more expensive houses selling.) There were 6,056 sales during November, down slightly from 6,091 in October. Sales were up from 4,279 a year ago but below 7,837 at the previous price peak of the market in November 2007 following the 2003-2007 house price boom. See the house sales chart here. The nationwide median sale price remained at a record NZ$355,000 in November, up from NZ$337,500 a year ago and NZ$352,000 in November 2007. See the median price chart here.

Stratified measure The REINZ's new stratified house price measure indicated house prices rose 0.2% in November from October. In the three months to November, prices rose 4.1% from the three months to October, while prices were up 6.6% from November 2008. The stratified measure shows house prices still down 2.9% from their November 2007 peak, from 3.1% below the peak in October. The stratified measure was designed with help from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and basically shows an average of sales prices for common groups of houses, which is similar to QV's monthly house value index. More expensive houses selling November saw the highest proportion of houses sold for over NZ$600,000 since interest.co.nz began charting the REINZ price brackets in March 2003. Of all houses sold over the month, 16.2% were sold for over NZ$600,000, up from 14.5% in October. This rise was accompanied by proportional falls in lower price brackets, with 25.3% of all houses sold in the NZ$400,000-600,000 bracket (down from 26% in October) and 58.5% of all houses sold for under NZ$400,000 (down from 59.5%). See the price bracket chart here. Here is the full release from the REINZ:

Median house prices have more than doubled over the past 10 years, figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reveal today. The national median of $355,000 for the month of November has increased more than 100 percent on the corresponding figure ($174,000) for November 2000 and is also up $17,500 or 5.2 percent on the median price for November 2008. Real Estate Institute of New Zealand President, Peter McDonald, says the residential property market in New Zealand appears to have stabilised after last month's all-time high national figures. "It's been a long held belief that property doubles in value every decade. This trend has been borne out in this month's analysis of median house prices for New Zealand," Mr McDonald says. Around the country, median values have risen in nine out of 12 districts compared with November 2008 prices. The largest gains were Auckland, up 10.6 percent to $470,000, followed by Northland up 5.9 percent to $341,000 and Waikato/Bay of Plenty, also up 5.9 percent to $320,000. The two largest drops in property values were at Central Otago Lakes, down 7.2 percent to $441,000 and Hawke's Bay, down 6.0 percent to $275,000. "The market appears to have retained the momentum gained over the last few years and median prices this month mirror the all-time highs experienced in October," says Mr McDonald. Another positive picture of the market is the number of houses sold, he says. The total number of 6,056 houses sold in November 2009 was well up on the same month last year, when 4,279 houses were sold. The national median for days to sell in November was 33 compared with 31 in October 2009 and the sluggish 44 days in the corresponding period a year ago. Sales were quickest in Southland at a snappy 20 median days, while in Wellington it was 28 median days and in Canterbury/Westland and Otago, the median days to sell was just 29. Northland was the slowest market, with houses taking a median of 58 days to sell. The total value of house sales in New Zealand in November was $2.67 billion, which was slightly up on the $2.62 billion recorded last month even with slightly fewer sales (6,091 houses were sold in October 2009, 35 more than November 2009). Auckland sales accounted for $1.27 billion of total sales in November. Canterbury/Westland and Waikato/Bay of Plenty were the next greatest value at $306m and $303m respectively with Wellington not far behind at $300m. "The residential property sales market has remained steady and I believe it will firm even further as the economy recovers," Mr McDonald says.