Real estate industry springs back with record-high house prices

October 15, 2019
Auckland, New Zealand - January 11, 2014: New Homes on January 11, 2014. House prices are booming around New Zealand - with the average price of an Auckland city home rocketing to $735,692.

The real estate market has sprung back into life, but national sales volumes were flat.

The Real Estate Institute's House Price Index, which measures the changing value of property, rose 3.6 per cent to a record high in the year to September.

The median house prices across New Zealand increased 7.3 per cent, to a record high of $597,000, over the year earlier.

Median house prices in Auckland rose 0.5 per cent to $848,000, and sales volumes were up nearly 3.6 per cent in the region over the year before.

The regions with the biggest increase in median prices included Manawatū-Whanganui, Southland, Taranaki and Hawke's Bay.

Those with the biggest price drops were West Coast, Northland and Nelson.

While the national volume of sales was flat, REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said it was the highest number of properties sold in a September month for three years.

"This suggests that we're starting to see the usual spring uplift and also that more confidence is starting to creep back into the market," she said.

Regions with the highest volume of sales growth included Tasman, Otago and West Coast.

rnz.co.nz

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