5 Jul 2017

Number of house sales in Auckland has plummeted

From Morning Report, 7:12 am on 5 July 2017

Auckland house prices are growing at the slowest annual rate in about five years as tough restrictions and high prices lock people out of the market.

An auction sign outside a house for sale in Auckland.

Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Data from Quotable Value (QV) for the 12 months to June shows national residential property values rose 8.1 percent - the slowest annual growth since March 2015.

The national average now sits at $639,051, up from $634,018, in May.

In Auckland, the annual growth rate, at 7.2 percent, was the slowest since September 2012.

CoreLogic senior research analyst Nick Goodall said the number of first-time buyers had reached a new low in Auckland because it was more difficult to get a mortgage.

Non-cash buyers were affected by the tighter bank lending criteria and interest rates starting to pick up, as well as the problem of "sheer affordability" in Auckland, he said.

Mr Goodall said the volume of house sales in Auckland had fallen 30 percent in a year.