Auckland property market 'turning' - Barfoot & Thompson

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The Auckland property market appears to be "turning" after seven years of constant price rises, says the city's biggest real estate agency.

"Signs the rate of price increase has been slowing have been there for some months but November's sales data confirms that for the time being at least, Auckland prices have stopped rising," said Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson.

"Both the average sales price and the median price in November were down on those for October," he said.

"The average sales price in November at $933,130 was down 1.1 per cent on October's and only 1.1 percent higher than the average price for the previous three months.

"The median price at $850,000 was down 1.7 per cent on October's and down 0.6 per cent on the median price for the previous three months," Thompson said.

Last month was the first time in eight years where November's average and median prices were below those in October.

Prices tend to peak for the year in November and December, Thompson said.

"Encouragingly new listings at 1879 have been strong and sales numbers at 947, while down marginally on the same month last year, were sound and up 21.7 per cent on those in October. The market is not over reacting to the changes occurring," he said.

"Clearance rates under the hammer at auctions were 30 per cent in November with another 20 per cent being sold in the 24 hours following auction. Those sellers who were realistic and prepared to trim their reserve price achieved sales and buyers were confident in meeting near record prices," he said.