KEY POINTS:
The Auckland property market is taking what one real estate company is calling a "breather".
Barfoot and Thompson says the average sale price fell six per cent from March to April, from $564,000 to just over $532,000. However it says total sales for April were ahead of the same month last year.
These figures come out in the wake of recent news that the dream of owning a home is now well out of reach for the average wage-earner, many of whom appear doomed to a lifetime of renting.
A property consultancy predicted that 58 per cent of the population will be renting by 2016, with Auckland leading the way.
Analysing their latest statistics, the real estate firm blames a combination of school and public holidays, plus buyer caution prompted by rising interest rates.
Director Peter Thompson says holidays tend to disrupt the sales cycle, pointing to Easter, Anzac Day and two weeks of school holidays during April.
He says there was also a lot of anticipation the Reserve Bank was about to increase interest rates, a fear which proved well founded when Dr Bollard raised the Official Cash Rate (OCR) up to 7.75 per cent last week.
The figures certainly represent a dip after the stats from the previous month, which was the busiest March for the firm since 2003, with average prices jumping 12 per cent.
Barfoot & Thompson ended the financial year very strongly by achieving the milestone of selling more than 100 "million dollar" properties in a single month for the first time in the company's 84 year history.
This included 28 property sales worth $2 million or more. 21 per cent of the company's total sales were for sale prices in excess of $1 million.
- NEWSTALK ZB, NZHERALD STAFF
