House prices down, sales numbers down as housing market contracts in June - REINZ

The housing market is feeling the effects of a cold, wet winter, rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainties with sales numbers and prices both taking a slide in June.

According to the Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ), 5996 residential properties were sold by its members in June, down 11.0% compared to May and -2.9% compared to June last year.

In Auckland, the country's largest real estate market, residential sales were -13.3% compared to May and -5.6% compared to June last year.

In the rest of the country excluding Auckland, sales were -10.0% compared to May and -1.7% compared to June last year.

Prices were also weaker, with the REINZ House Price Index (HPI), which is widely regarded as the most accurate indicator of house price movements, declining by 0.9% in June compared to May, -2.4% over the three months to June and -0.8% compared to June last year.

Of the REINZ's 12 sales districts, the HPI declined in eight districts in June compared to May and increased in four - the table below shows the HPI movements in all districts.

The national median selling price was $770,000 in June, down by 1.3% compared to May but up by 0.7% compared to June last year.

The REINZ's June report attributed the annual increase in the median price to "continued strength in some of the country's higher value and better performing regions." 

"The New Zealand housing market has become a series of local markets moving at different speeds," REINZ Chief Executive Lizzy Ryley said.

"Buyers and sellers in one part of the country are having a very different experience from those in another, making the local knowledge of trusted real estate professionals more important than ever," she said.

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