9 Jan 2017

Summer lull drives down Auckland house prices

2:44 pm on 9 January 2017

Auckland's property market has eased further in what is usually a quiet period for real estate.

Auckland housing. View from Mount Eden summit

Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

The city's biggest agent, Barfoot & Thompson, said that, compared with November, the median sales price fell by 1.2 percent to $840,000 in December.

It was the second consecutive monthly fall.

The number of sales and new listings also declined.

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said December and January were typically quiet times, and he expected activity to pick up from February.

"December's modest price retreat is similar to that which occurred last December, and it took until March for the upward price trend to reappear," he said.

There was still solid demand for property in the country's largest city, he said.

"For the median price, the 2016 increase was 8.9 percent compared to 17.4 percent in 2015, 11.1 percent in 2014 and 12.6 percent in 2013," he added.

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