The average asking price of homes listed for sale on Trade Me Property slipped back below half a million dollars for the first time since October last year in January.
Trade Me Property measures its asking prices as a rolling three months average, and its average asking price for the three months to the end of January was $498,550, down 1.1% compared to the three months ended December, which itself was down 1% compared to the three months ended November.
Trade Me's Head of Property Nigel Jeffries said the dip in asking prices showed there had been some uncertainty about the strength of the market over the holiday period, but he did not expect that to last.
"We suspect recent reports around the outlook for lower interest rates through the remainder of 2015 will see a reversal of this softness in the market over the next few months," he said.
In the main centres, average asking prices in the three months to January were up 13% in Auckland compared to a year earlier, while in Wellington they were up 6.5%.
In Canterbury they were up 8.8% and in Otago they were up 5.2%.
Jeffries said a feature of the market was that growth in asking prices was no longer just confined to Auckland and Christchurch.
"We've become accustomed to the strength of the property market in Auckland and Christchurch, with the rest of the country languishing behind," he said.
"However recent months have seen this change and the majority of provincial regions are seeing strong year on year gains in average asking prices."
To read Trade Me Property's full report, with average asking prices for all regions and an analysis by property types, click on this link.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our free Property email newsletter brings you all the stories about residential and commercial property and the forces that move these huge markets. Sign up here.
To subscribe to our Property newsletter, enter your email address here. It's free.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.