12 Feb 2013

Demand boosts number of house sales

7:29 pm on 12 February 2013

Robust demand for residential property has driven the biggest monthly rise in the volume of house sales for five years.

Real Estate Institute figures show the median house sale price fell by 4.9% to $370,000 in January, compared with the previous month.

But sales numbers jumped a fifth to nearly 5000 last month compared with January last year, the biggest rise for the month in five years.

Institute chief executive Helen O'Sullivan says January is traditionally a tricky month to get an accurate picture of the housing market due to the impact of the summer holidays, but a number of factors are contributing to the robust demand.