Winter finally hits housing market
Winter at last had an impact on the housing market in June, although the dampening was mild by any standard.
Monday, July 21st 2003, 10:37PM
by Jenny Ruth
That was still well ahead of the 9,047 houses sold in April and it was also well ahead of the 7,486 houses sold in June last year.
The national median price was 14.1% higher than the $184,000 level reached in June last year.
"The seasonal softening was to be expected," says real Estate Institute president Graeme Woodley. He says low interest rates and the prospect that they will fall even further next week when the Reserve Bank reviews its official cash rate should continue to underpin the residential market, he says.
In the key Auckland market, the median house price was unchanged in June from May at $289,000 although the number of sales fell from 4,005 in May to 3,579 in June. That was still well up on the 2,657 Auckland homes which sold in June last year.
Woodley says it is "instructive" that Auckland’s median price has held up "in the face of huge apartment developments and sales."
Elsewhere in the country, the median house price rose in six of the 11 regions in June compared with May while it fell in the other four, but it was up in all regions compared with June last year. Similarly, the number of sales fell in all regions but Manawatu/Wanganui in June compared with May, but was ahead in all regions compared with June last year.
While there were marked falls in the median house price in regions such as Wellington, down from $235,000 in May to $220,500 in June, and Hawkes Bay, down from $ 163,050 in May to $150,000 in June, "I suspect this is a seasonal issue rather than a sign of falling market confidence," Woodley says.
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