House prices continued to cool in July - particularly in Auckland

Property / news

REINZ says buyers in no rush to make a purchase as prices cool slightly in July and listings edge up

14th Aug 25, 9:00am by Greg Ninness

The housing market continued to cool in July, with prices and seasonally adjusted sales volumes all lower compared to June, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of NZ data.

The REINZ House Price Index (HPI), widely considered to be the most reliable measure of house price movements, declined by 0.4% in July compared to June and was down by 1.8% over the three months to July, but almost unchanged (+0.1%) compared to July last year.

Prices were particularly soft in the country's largest real estate market, with the HPI for Auckland declining by 1.8% compared to June and down 3.3% over the three months to July.

All districts within the Auckland region posted monthly declines in July, ranging from -0.1% in Waitakere to -2.6% on the North Shore - see table below for the full figures.

The national median selling price declined slightly from $770,000 in June to $767,250 in July, while Auckland's median price declined from $990,000 in June to $975.000 in July - see the interactive median price graph below for the full regional median price movements.

The number of sales was both up and down for the month, with the REINZ publishing two sets of sales data.

Actual sales numbers were 6319 in July, which was up 5.4% compared to to June, but seasonally adjusted sales were down 1.7% compared to June.

New listings were slightly stronger, with 7737 received in July, up from 7612 in June, which means buyers will still have plenty to choose from.

"While buyers remain active, local salespeople around the country say they're not in a rush to purchase," REINZ Chief executive Lizzy Ryley said.

"With the median days to sell holding steady or improving slightly, it's clear that buyers still feel they have time to assess the market," she said.

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REINZ House Price Index July 2025

Median price - REINZ

Select chart tabs

Source: REINZ

Volumes sold - REINZ

Select chart tabs

Source: REINZ

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44 Comments

by hamishk1 | 14th Aug 25, 9:12am 1755119540

Auckland continues to deal with the hangover from the 2021 party. The rest of NZ (the South Island in particular) is chugging along OK at this stage.

by IT GUY | 14th Aug 25, 10:27am 1755124053

It's a lost decade situation, worse for those on interest only loans. May be a lost couple of decades.

Many will lose patience

by ex socialist | 14th Aug 25, 9:59am 1755122393

And a lost generation - with transfer of wealth to the baby boomer generation. That (my) boomer generation sold houses at artificially high prices to a younger generation who will not see price increases. I know of 30 year-olds with $1m mortgages - who won't regain equity in their house for another 3 years - and then will be fighting to just repay their mortgage by the time they are 60. Us boomers not only had high property value growth (in the second half of our working life) but also rampant inflation that meant that mortgage payments quickly declined in real value.

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 10:43am 1755124986

The millennials will inherit more wealth than any generation in history.

by IT GUY | 14th Aug 25, 11:03am 1755126232

And the inequality of being born to the wrong parents will become a dominant structure of society....

Not everyone is born equal

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 11:34am 1755128046

It was already the dominant structure of society. The globe actually, for centuries 12% of us got to inherit 90% of the worlds wealth.

But don't worry, us millennials are virtuous and know all the wrongs of the world. We will use that money with full hearts for the betterment of everyone!

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 1:06pm 1755133573

Equality is a myth, always has been.

by Averageman | 14th Aug 25, 11:06am 1755126393

Fixed it for you - a small group of millennials will inherit more wealth than any generation in history

Inheriting wealth sure sounds easy.

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 12:15pm 1755130522

That transfer of it is actually fairly wide reaching.

But if your parents were broke or didn't like you, yeah probably not much in the offering directly. Although you could benefit from when a bunch of the wealth gets pissed up against a wall.

Buncha 40 year olds inheriting millions of dollars each, lotta wanton consumer spending inbound.

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 1:08pm 1755133683

"Inheriting wealth sure sounds easy".

Make sure you allow your kids to inherit wealth then, since that's your belief.

by rastus | 14th Aug 25, 1:22pm 1755134544

Which is why a robust tax system should prevent wealth accumulating to just a few.

The game monopoly when played to the end results in a winner takes all. Same thing would occur if tax did not redistribute wealth.

by EpsomArtsandCrafts | 14th Aug 25, 2:15pm 1755137739

Good points, While the Boomers may not have realised it at the time, when they look back they had an easy ride, compared to the next generations

by ex socialist | 14th Aug 25, 9:53am 1755122037

Yes, Auckland is vulnerable because of continuing supply. I was commenting to someone about Wellington - that Auckland is "over' supply of housing - while Wellington is economic depression. So Wellington will get better in a year but Auckland won't

by Te Kooti v1.0 | 14th Aug 25, 11:48am 1755128911

Why would you choose to live in Auckland? It doesn't have adequate infrastructure and the traffic is absolutely diabolical. The CBD is really poor as well

I'd be living in Omaha, Waiheke, or even Coromandel. Send the kids to private schools in secondary years and they can board. A bit hard if your in the corporate world, but if you can work remotely. It's not as if you are giving up some vibrant urban lifestyle.....

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 11:51am 1755129102

Why would you choose to live in Auckland?

Or literally any city in NZ.

Although most people don't really "choose" where they live. It's mostly what we fall into.

by Te Kooti v1.0 | 14th Aug 25, 12:04pm 1755129859

I'm taking a relative value view, you can live in other cities for half the price of Auckland - which changes the value proposition completely when there are no price rises.

Quality of life is not there in Auckland - I'd rather be in Qtown, Coro, Waiheke or Omaha than Auckland if I've got $2m to $5m to spend.

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 12:54pm 1755132880

I struggle to make the maths work for most people living in a city. Many things aren't even cheaper as you'd expect from economies of scale.

Queenstown looks nice but I'd never want to live there.

West coast, if it wasn't so wet.

Maybe Golden Bay

Parts of Northland

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 12:16pm 1755130561

"Why would you choose to live in Auckland?"

Because it was 11 degrees this morning and not minus 3 degrees.

Because it has direct flight to the world and you don't waste a night if your return flight is late because you miss your connecting flight.

Because you get all the best sports, concerts and events in NZ.

Because you can swim in the sea 6 months pa without freezing to death

Because you can enjoy amazing restaurants from all over the world

Because the Hauraki gulf is magical and there are hundreds of bays you can go to with your boat nearby.

Because it's the most worldly city in NZ, rich with culture and open minded.

by interesting1234 | 14th Aug 25, 12:25pm 1755131142

You make good points, however many love a crispy hard frost in the morning to wake us up, appreciate the mountains, and get a few cozy layers on, or just throw another log on the fire and bask in the glow.

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 12:56pm 1755132967

Winter is warmer in Auckland, but it's also more damp and cloudy.

I'll take this 14 degree cloudless still day over a few degrees warmer and soggy.

by Te Kooti v1.0 | 14th Aug 25, 12:31pm 1755131480

You do realise Omaha and Waiheke are 45 minutes from downtown Auckland, with Coro 2 hours? And all 3 are in the Hauraki Gulf last time I checked.

Jesus, lolz.

by Pa1nter | 14th Aug 25, 12:52pm 1755132759

There's not much point in commuting from Omaha or Waiheke, so if you want to leave Auckland might as well go further out and not compete with the Auckland housing market.

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 1:10pm 1755133840

What's your point TK ? Or are you just agreeing ?

by Te Kooti v1.0 | 14th Aug 25, 1:47pm 1755136044

My point is your points were ineffective in rebutting mine.

by Nifty | 14th Aug 25, 10:11am 1755123110

In summary, its flat as a pan cake with month to month reporting deceiving...

by Retired-Poppy | 14th Aug 25, 11:44am 1755128644

And we should also possibly note that we are in rare atmosphere - falling interest rates when house prices are also falling and showing no signs of ending that trend let alone rising. Lower interest rates are not giving the support to the housing market many assumed they would.....

Sadly for some, the truth is unbelievable!

by JimboJones | 14th Aug 25, 1:47pm 1755136025

Mortgage rates are lower than they were 2 years ago, but they are quite a bit higher than they were 5 years ago. So its not really surprising.

If mortgage rates go down to 2.5% again, houses will probably go up. Hard to know if this will eventuate, at the moment it is looking more and more likely with the state of the economy.

by Averageman | 14th Aug 25, 10:13am 1755123205

Down down down in ponzi town.

Hope the interest only specuvestor debt farmers get their long awaited margin call. Find some real equity or be sold up. What would true market discovery be in this market..higher, same or less money. I'm betting on the latter.

Chippy's Capital Gains tax to be announced at some stage will certainly do no favour's for capital gains chasers, and that will be all taxed. So it has to be yield...and that's will a ways off from making sense.

Popcorn.

by rastus | 14th Aug 25, 11:45am 1755128738

Does chippy realise that unless he back dated a 'V' date that it might be decades before any cap gain occurs?

Or is he thinking of backdating a V date?

Has anyone asked?

Seems like political suicide for an almost nil tax result.

And what a great incentive for Govt created inflation.

Adds up to a dumb idea to me. have I missed something?

Asset tax would work.

by Averageman | 14th Aug 25, 11:58am 1755129520

Completely agree. Unless backdated its worthless until they get voted out and would kill realestate sales, as no one would sell to trigger being punished by Chippy's tax. Asset tax the same - who would sell anything until they get voted out. Tax needs to be regular otherwise its worthless. This is 100% why Aussie has introduced the idea of annual assessment on capital gain regardless of sale. Lots of noise over there on that.

Highlights why a land tax is superior. Its unavoidable ....every year.

by Phoenix (FKA JC) | 14th Aug 25, 12:06pm 1755129983

Chippy's Capital Gains tax to be announced at some stage will certainly do no favour's for capital gains chasers

Chippy might be pulling back any GGT talk until the sheeple have forgotten about the 'nothing to see here' Royal Commission.

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 12:21pm 1755130889

"Down down down in ponzi town"

Or you could have a cup of reality and see that:

The REINZ House Price Index (HPI), widely considered to be the most reliable measure of house price... is almost unchanged (+0.1%) compared to July last year.

Yes the HPI is slightly down compared to June, but only a fool would compare 2 different months.

by Phoenix (FKA JC) | 14th Aug 25, 12:52pm 1755132767

Yes the HPI is slightly down compared to June, but only a fool would compare 2 different months.

Not necessarily Dr Y. While house price indexes are directional only in understanding market value, drilling down, even on monthly changes, can be interesting. Assuming you have access to the full data set.

by Time Lord | 14th Aug 25, 1:33pm 1755135194

Five straight months of Auckland MoM declines.

July’s fall represents the biggest drop to the HPI in 16 months.

Call it noise if you like, but it's getting louder

by Phoenix (FKA JC) | 14th Aug 25, 1:42pm 1755135759

Five straight months of Auckland MoM declines.

July’s fall represents the biggest drop to the HPI in 16 months.

Which is essentially a measure of directional momentum. That 5-month period can be used to make comparisons across other 5-month periods across a total data set.

Wonder if there has ever been a 5-month period of declines.

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 2:32pm 1755138744

If you compare last month, with 5 months earlier, you're comparing a winter month (July) with a summer month (February). That's your choice, but I think it serves more to make a pre-conceived point, than comparing like-for-like data.

by Phoenix (FKA JC) | 14th Aug 25, 2:41pm 1755139294

Yes Dr Y. In a calendar year, there are 8 distinct 5-month periods. Over 20 years there are 236.

Whether those periods start in July or Feb is irrelevant for data analysis purposes.

by Yvil | 14th Aug 25, 4:17pm 1755145020

"In a calendar year, there are 8 distinct 5-month periods"

8, 5-months periods do not fit in a 12 month calendar year, so it's theoretical cherry picking. That's fine, you make your RE investment decisions comparing summer months with winter months, I won't do that.

by Phoenix (FKA JC) | 14th Aug 25, 5:11pm 1755148290

8, 5-months periods do not fit in a 12 month calendar year

Yes they do.

by Speedmax | 15th Aug 25, 9:01pm 1755248474

Still falling in real, inflation adjusted, terms.

by Time Lord | 14th Aug 25, 10:15am 1755123306

The 5 year comfort blanket Auckland speculators have been hugging onto is down to its last thread

by IT GUY | 14th Aug 25, 10:29am 1755124186

At current pace the AKL 5 year is going Negative as I type.

by ex socialist | 14th Aug 25, 12:21pm 1755130896

The November 2020 HPI was essentially the same as the July 25 one. So any further declines will mean that the five year HPI increase will be negative later in the year.

by EpsomArtsandCrafts | 14th Aug 25, 2:17pm 1755137843

ouch, central Auckland district -5.6% in a quarter - thats minus $4,000 a week