KEY POINTS:
The much-feared Auckland property market slowdown seems to have begun in earnest, with the city's largest real estate agency recording a big drop in the number of residential sales last month compared with the same time last year.
Barfoot & Thompson said yesterday its agents had negotiated 604 sales last month compared with 1003 for the same month last year.
Prices have also continued to fall. The average January sale was for $517,613 compared with the December average of $559,803. Prices are still well ahead of last January's average of $475,461.
Barfoot & Thompson director Peter Thompson said the cooling of the market last month was over and above the normal seasonal slow-down, but he believed it would be another month or two before a clear picture emerged.
It was too early to predict the state of the property market for the rest of the year, "although we should have a clearer idea by the end of February where the market is likely to sit".
"Indications to date are that February is also slow, but we have to take into account the fact that school holidays have lasted a week longer than usual."
Barfoot & Thompson ended the month with 6173 listings on its books. Mr Thompson said that was a higher-than-normal figure, which demonstrated there were plenty of willing vendors in the market, but that they would need to be realistic about prices.
Harcourts New Zealand's January figures will not be available until next week, but chief executive Bryan Thomson said last night he expected they would show a similar trend in sales volumes to the Barfoot statistics.
"For the last quarter of last year and the start of this year, the number of sales are down between 20 and 30 per cent compared with last year.
"While that's a significant reduction, the volume of sales that was occurring at this period last year was very strong.
"There's no doubt that in regard to the number of sales the market has shifted to a lower level."
Real Estate Institute president Murray Cleland said the institute would release nationwide figures on sales numbers and prices next week.
Average weekly rents for last month increased compared with the same time last year.
Last month, the average was $396, compared with $362 in January last year. This is the highest average weekly rent. The previous highest was $388 for last October.
NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS
* January last year 1003
* Last month 604
Average price
* December $559,803
* Last month $517,613
