Housing market goes off the boil

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While the Real Estate Institute says the housing market "went from a boil to a simmer" in September, the figures remain very strong.

Wednesday, October 22nd 2003, 9:00AM

by Jenny Ruth

The national median house price remained steady at the record $215,000 level, which was 16.2% up on September last year, and activity picked up its already frenzied pace, the number of houses sold rising from 10,193 in August to 10,687 in September which compares with 7,943 in September last year.

Still, one sign of moderation was that the number of days it took to sell a house in September rose to 33 days from the record low of 25 days in August. That contrasts with about 50 days on average through most of 2000.

Nevertheless, Real Estate Institute president Graeme Woodley says that Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard "can probably draw some satisfaction from the latest figures, given his recent warnings."

Woodley notes the median price in key Auckland market "showed a reduced rate of growth" in rising from $315,000 in August to $319,000 in September. That was still 16.8% higher than in September last year.

In Wellington, the median price jumped 6% from August to $238,750, 17% higher than in September last year.

"The market appears to be heeding Dr Bollard’s recent warnings, including his third last week, designed to take the steam out of the market by warning about the risk of debt traps," Woodley says.

But he says we shouldn’t read too much into one month’s figures. "It is clear that the Southern property market is still very buoyant and possibly now catching up on the lead shown by markets in the upper half of the Nort Island earlier this year.

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