House prices edge up as sales drop

The number of residential property sales dropped last month, although the median price edged up.

Latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand also show its housing price index rose last month, gaining 0.6 per cent, while for the three months to June housing prices were up 0.1 per cent.

The index is an average of sale prices for common groups. Compared with a year earlier, it was 4.2 per cent higher in June, while being 4.5 per cent below the November 2007 peak.

The national median dwelling price last month was $352,500, compared with $350,000 in May and $340,000 in June last year.

REINZ recorded 4575 sales in June, down from 5206 in May and from 6040 in June last year. Sales numbers were up on the 4305 in June 2008, but well down on the June figures for the previous seven years.

REINZ president Peter McDonald said predicted post-Budget "blues" had not come to fruition and a forecast fall in prices had not been seen.

"What we have is a genuine rather than a speculative market, with people seeking and buying homes to meet their own needs," he said.

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Posted: 15 Jul 2010

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