The head of Auckland's largest real estate firm says investors appear to be holding off property purchases ahead of the release of the Budget this month.
Barfoot and Thompson says property sales in April were down by 27.6% from March, and the average sale price was down 1% to $541,486
Managing director Peter Thompson says the falls are smaller than usually experienced at this time of year, however there is some uncertainty in the market ahead of the 20 May Budget.
Mr Thompson says new listings fell 22% to 1312, though they are about 12% ahead of the previous year.
