House sales plunge in January

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New Zealand house sales sank to a new record low last month as the property market continues to languish into 2011.

The 3252 sales in January was lower than the previous low of
3666 in January last year, as fewer houses than ever before came on to market, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

That followed on from a weak sales number of 4397 in December.

The median time to sell a house rose to 51 days last month, that's eight more days than January 2010, and 12 more days than in December.

"Low levels of building consents don't suggest any significant increase in new housing stock in the short-term," said chief executive Helen O'Sullivan in a statement.

"This in turn should provide support for prices over the coming 12 months."

The data continues last year's trend of a softer property market as households continue to use the low interest rate environment to repay debt rather than ramp up spending. Earlier this week, QV data showed property values were 1.5 per cent lower in January than the same month a year ago.

The median sale price fell 2.9 per cent to $340,000 compared to January 2010, and was down 3.4 per cent from December.

House prices fell 2.6 per cent to 3119.8 last month, according to the Reserve Bank-devised REINZ Monthly Housing Price Index, and were down 0.1 per cent in the three months ended Jan. 31. On an annual basis prices were down 2.6 per cent.

The median Auckland house sale price fell to $450,000 last month from $455,000 in December, with 1115 sales compared to 1428 a month earlier. Wellington prices dropped to $370,000 from $400,000 in December, and sales declined to 377 from 586.

Christchurch sales prices declined to $328,200 from $330,500 in December, as sales numbers dropped to 458 from 637. Dunedin prices dropped to $205,500 from $235,000, with sales falling to 138 from 231 in December.