Property sales on rise in Wairarapa

Early January house sale figures in Wairarapa show an increase on last year, according to real estate commentator Rick Joblin.

With some results yet to come in, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand recorded 31 houses sold in Wairarapa in January - excluding sections and beach houses - compared to 26 in January last year.

The increase on 2010 includes several additional sales in Carterton, with Mr Joblin noting that "not a lot of [them] are in the Masterton area".

The results come after a flatter than usual December, with just 39 sales compared to 49 in December 2010.

REINZ figures, supplied by Marty Berry of Re/Max, show the average Masterton house took 3.8 months to sell in December 2011. The average residential price was $243,615.

Mr Joblin said there were more than 300 houses for sale in Masterton, which is "about standard". He said "there's usually a lot of activity that shows up in February", so the sales rise was an encouraging start to the year.