The average price of homes sold by the country's largest real estate agency hit a new record high last month, although the number of homes it sold was down.
Harcourts' national average selling price was $594,693 in July, up $18,749, or 3.3%, compared to June's average of $575,944, and up 15% compared to July last year (refer table below).
Around the country, the biggest annual increase in the average price was in the Central North Island, which includes real estate hot spots Tauranga and Hamilton, where July's average price was up 31% compared to July last year.
That was followed by Wellington +19%, Northland/Auckland +15%, Christchurch +10% and the rest of the South Island +8%.
At the same time the amount of stock available for sale is falling, with Harcourts having a total of 5572 homes listed for sale on its books at the end of July, down 1741, or 23.8%, compared to the 7313 it had available for sale in July last year.
'Immigration needs effective planning'
Harcourts chief executive Chris Kennedy said record immigration levels paired with poor planning around infrastructure were the root cause of the current market conditions.
"In Auckland the revised Unitary Plan should begin to address the housing shortage with massive construction and housing intensification proposed," he said.
"However until this happens, the average Auckland price will continue to trend up," he predicted.
And Auckland's housing shortage would continue to drive demand in other regions at a time when the stock they had available for sale was also lower than normal, he said.
He also said it was "an outstanding time" to be selling a property and that the government needed to take responsibility for immigration and its flow on effects.
"Immigration is important to the country's growth and economy but it must be paired with effective planning," he said.
"The government needs to own the problem and act swiftly.
"We all want New Zealand to remain a place sought out for our amazing lifestyle and living conditions," he said.
| July 2016 | June 2016 | July 2015 | |
| Auckland/Northland: | |||
| Number of new listings | 596 | 708 | 752 |
| Number of sales | 587 | 651 | 668 |
| Average selling price | $949,756 | $909,733 | $828,024 |
| Central North Island: | |||
| Number of new listings | 391 | 454 | 438 |
| Number of sales | 403 | 457 | 527 |
| Average selling price | $455,895 | $433,391 | $347,475 |
| Wellington Region: | |||
| Number of new listings | 289 | 274 | 322 |
| Number of sales | 294 | 293 | 291 |
| Average selling price | $422,364 | $437,123 | $354,055 |
| Christchurch: | |||
| Number of new listings | 350 | 479 | 492 |
| Number of sales | 413 | 428 | 426 |
| Average selling price | $521,850 | $496,409 | $472,724 |
| South Island excluding Christchurch: | |||
| Number of new listings | 228 | 297 | 229 |
| Number of sales | 235 | 256 | 235 |
| Average selling price | $364,783 | $371,941 | $337,811 |
| Total NZ | |||
| Number of new listings | 2009 | 2280 | 2393 |
| Number of sales | 1986 | 2150 | 2178 |
| Average selling price | $594,693 | $575,944 | $517,566 |
You can receive all of our property articles automatically by subscribing to our free email Property Newsletter. This will deliver all of our property-related articles, including auction results and interest rate updates, directly to your in-box 3-5 times a week. We don't share your details with third parties and you can unsubscribe at any time. To subscribe just click on this link, scroll down to "Property email newsletter"and enter your email address.
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.