The average sale price for properties sold by Barfoot & Thompson in March 2023 was $1,102,933. Photo / Ted Baghurst
The average sale price for properties sold by Barfoot & Thompson in March 2023 was $1,102,933. Photo / Ted Baghurst
The volumes of residential sales by Auckland’s largest agency, Barfoot & Thompson, fell 56% from November to December as the holiday period took its toll.
The agency sold 1782 properties in November, but that fell to 780 sales last month in the summer month of Christmas when schools and universities finish and many people go away on holiday.
Inventory at the agency continues to swell as unsold stock mounts: 5094 properties were available for sale at the end of last month, whereas a decade ago in December 2014, there were only 2500 properties for sale.
But that was when the market was heading up rather than the present situation when house prices began falling about October 2021.
The agency’s average sale price rose from $1.13 million in November to $1.18m in December.
Last year’s average was $1.15m, up on 2023’s $1.10m.
The median sale price was $1m in December, down from November’s $1.01m. Overall, the median for sales by the agency in 2024 was $987,408.
Barfoot & Thompson, which says it sells one in every three Auckland residential properties, sold 98.8% of properties for more than $500,000 in the year.
Sales by the agency for more than $1m accounted for 66.4% in 2024.
Peter Thompson says the Auckland housing market came through 2024 "in good shape". Photo / Fiona Goodall
Managing director Peter Thompson said the average of $1,186,462 was up 4.7% on November and up 6.4% on the previous three months.
“While these prices are still well below 2021’s peak prices, they are ahead of those in the third quarter of the year when the market struggled as the economy came under pressure.
“On a year-on-year basis, the average price increase for 2024 over 2023 was 4.4% and for the median price there was a decline of 0.1%, showing that there was little price movement over the past 12 months.
“Sales of 833 properties in December declined significantly on those for November, as traditionally happens at year end,” he said.
“Given the challenges the economy was under in 2024, the Auckland housing market, assisted by falling mortgage interest rates towards year end, came through the year in good shape,” Thompson said.
The agency listed 780 homes in December. That was the first time last year it had listed fewer homes in a month than were sold.
He acknowledged unsold inventory.
“Available listings are about 13% above where they have been at this time of the year for two years.”
The Heraldreported last week that ASB’s economic team are tipping 2025 prices to jump by as much as 10%, while others like Kiwibank economists are tipping a gentler rise of 5-7%.
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said last month that lower mortgage rates had resulted in a steadying, not strengthening, of the housing market.
The Reserve Bank now sees less risk of another house price boom. The market had become subdued, with stable prices and weak activity. Policy changes meant the risk of another house price boom had been reduced, it said.
A host of factors are weighing on the sector. Adviser Charles Lilly said policy changes would reduce the risk of another boom in prices.
“Even if interest rates do continue to fall and demand picks up, we should see a moderation of risks building up. So one that we talk about is the debt-to-income (DTI) limits that we brought in in July this year," Lilly said last year.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
