Auckland's largest real estate agency had a cracker of a month in March, with sales numbers and selling prices both up strongly.
Barfoot & Thompson sold 1262 residential properties in March, up 4% compared to March last year.
That was the most sales the agency has made in any month of the year since March 2021, which was at the height of the last property boom.
The average and median selling prices also recovered strongly after unexpectedly slumping in February.
Barfoot's average selling price was $1,176,572 in March, the highest it has been since November last year, and up 16% compared compared to February this year.
The median selling price was $1,030,000 in March, the highest it has been since March 2024, and up 13.9% from February this year.
Barfoot & Thompson Managing Director Peter Thompson said a feature of March was the high number of sales in the $2 million-plus price bracket, with 103 sales, the first time it has been above 100 since March 2022.
"While March's sales are not signalling an end to the Auckland property market's two year static performance, it underlines that even in challenging economic times there is confidence in the medium term future of the market," Thompson said.
One of the challenges the agency will have to deal with is the high level of stock for sale it is carrying.
Barfoot's bumper sales in March were achieved even though new listings were down by 7% compared to February and marginally lower (-0.4%) compared to March last year.
However, even with a lower level of listings and higher sales in March, the total number of properties Barfoots had available for sale at the end of March increased to 6307. That's up 2.4% compared to February, and is the most residential properties the agency has had available for sale in any month of the year since March 2009.
Such high stock levels could present particular challenges as the market starts to cool heading into the autumn/winter season.
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