by Jenny Ruth
You could be forgiven for seeing worrying signs in the entrails of the latest Real Estate Institute housing sales figures and prices.
Naturally, Real Estate Institute president Rex Hadley is determined to look on the bright side. Actually, anyone battling the winter blues would find it hard to disagree with him.
The institute's figures show that while the number of houses sold nationally fell from 6,461 in May to 6,147 in June, they were up on the 5,515 sold in June last year. Still, the May and June figures were well down on the 6,506 houses sold in April.
The total value of sales rose from $1.1 billion in June last year to $1.305 billion this June. But that was down from $1.315 million in May and from April's $1.424 million.
Still, the national median house price rose from $170,000 in both May this year and in June last year to $177,000 this June. That's not so much of an advance when you consider that in June 1999, the median house price was $172,000. Nevertheless, it's a lot more than the $165,000 national median price in June 1998.
"The overall picture of the residential property market in 2001 is much improved on last year, and it must be acknowledged that year to year comparison is a far more useful yardstick than on a month to month basis," Hadley says.
"While there is some evidence of a slight downward trend in sales volumes, the harsh winter being weathered throughout New Zealand is hardly conducive to house hunting," he says.
The fact that the June-on-June volume and median figures improved suggest a keen level of interest from prospective home buyers, "despite the challenging weather," Hadley says.
On a regional basis, eight of the 11 regions saw the June median price increase from the May price and the median price in six of the 11 regions was higher than in June last year.
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