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Auckland real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson says house prices held up during August, despite a continued slump in sales volumes.
The company sold 502 properties last month, low when compared to a monthly average of 900 during 2006 and 2007.
It reports an average sale price of $524,248, up 5.4 per cent on the month before.
Managing Director Peter Thompson says the most noticeable feature of the month was the low number of new listings signed up (1078 compared to an average of about 1500 per month to date this year).
"Clearly vendors are nervous about putting their properties on the market at this time and that is probably being compounded by the looming election," said Thompson.
"Every three years we see the uncertainty surrounding the pending election flow through into the property market. Vendors tend to want to hold off until post-election when the outcome is known. I would urge those who need to sell to simply get on with it."
The ASB Bank housing confidence survey, conducted over May, June and July - released late last month found the number of people optimistic about buying a house was sharply up on the previous survey.
Their optimism was fuelled by mortgage rates being reduced in early May and June, and the Reserve Bank's announcement of a likely series of drops in its official cash rate.
Real Estate Institute figures showed Auckland's median price dropped $451 a day or $14,000 in a month, from $435,000 in June to $421,000 in July.
