Busy month for Auckland house sales bucks national trend

Real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson sold more houses in Auckland last month than it has sold in any month since June 2007.

The company said the combination of average price and sales numbers in March was the highest in two years.

The average price last month for the Auckland company was $545,156, up nearly 11 per cent on March 2009.

However, the number of properties sold was, at 927, only marginally ahead of the figure for March last year.

The average house price for the last 12 months was - at nearly $528,000 - 3.2 per cent ahead of the average for the year to March 2009.

The company's managing director, Peter Thompson, said yesterday: "The influx of people into Auckland, growing confidence in the economy, excellent choice and the Indian summer combined to create a busy first quarter's trading."

However, the Institute of Economic Research says the national housing market remains weak.

"In the last six to nine months, sales volumes have slowed quite considerably," said principal economist Shamubeel Eaqub. "The volume of sales ... is historically very low.

"We are seeing house prices that are on average very high. We think it's because the volumes are so low that houses that are selling are generally in the higher price bracket. The bottom end has fallen away."

The main factors influencing the market were the increase in mortgage interest rates - currently the lowest rates were around 5.8 to 6 per cent - and the possibility the Government would change the tax rules for investment property.

- Staff reporter and NZPA