House prices beat last year despite drop

The median Wairarapa house price dropped 4.4 per cent last month but is still up on last year, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

Reinz figures show the median Wairarapa residence sold for $230,000 in September, down from $240,500 in August, a decrease of 4.4 per cent. However the result is up 4.5 per cent on last September when the median price was $220,000.

In Wellington region, the median price of $400,000 was up 4.2 per cent on August and up 5.3 per cent, or $20,000, on September last year.

The national median house price of $371,000 was up $1000, or 0.3 per cent from August.

QV figures show the average sales price in Masterton falling 0.8 per cent to $227,000, compared with the past year.

In Carterton the three-month average was down 0.7 per cent to $241,144. In South Wairarapa it was up 1.7 per cent to $330,353.

Nationwide, the average house price was up 5.3 per cent to $428,308.

In numbers of sales, Wairarapa bucked a nationwide trend of decreasing sales by selling one more house in September compared with August, 59 ahead of 58.

Nationwide there were 5653 unconditional sales in September, a fall of 6.3 per cent on August and an increase of 418 sales or 8 per cent, compared with the same time last year.

"The traditional rush of spring listings has not eventuated this year and the market is tightening as buyers face a limited choice," said Reinz chief executive Helen O'Sullivan. She says a shortage of new listings is causing buyers to make rapid decisions, lifting house prices.

Over the past 10 years September sales have averaged 2.2 per cent higher than August, indicating sales this September were weaker than average.

Although Wellington has seen a slight increase in values this year, up 2.3 per cent, the market has seen little movement in the past six months, not following the trend of the other main cities.