Auckland house sales dropped in April to their lowest level for the month since the 2008 global financial crisis , as the average house price slipped from a record high according to realtor Barfoot & Thompson.

There were 664 house sales in April  a drop of 40% from March and 30% below April last year .

The average sales price of $917,079 dropped 5.3 % from a record $968,570 in March , which typically marks the high point for prices in the first half of the year and was 5% higher than April last year.

The property market in New Zealand’s largest city has been on a tear as a shortage of housing coincided with surging population growth , prompting the Reserve Bank to introduce new macro-prudential tools to restrict highly leveraged mortgage lending.That in turn has dented demand in Auckland and encouraged buyers to look further afield , pushing up prices in the surrounding areas.

Peter Thompson Managing director of Barfoot & Thompson said , “It is a changed market from what we have been experiencing for a number of years and you have to go back nine years to find an April in which fewer homes were sold. Buyers are being far more selective” .

The realtor noted that the drop in sales numbers was felt evenly across all price ranges in the market place.

While it seems quality homes are still getting their asking price or close to it , homes are not selling as quickly and prospective buyers are being far more selective of what they buy and where they buy.

In our opinion this is a good thing as the rapid increase in House prices and sales was getting out of control and forcing people to invest in areas outside Auckland to be able to afford buying a home .

We  believe this is also a good thing as other areas are getting larger bringing in the need for updated infrastructure and creating more employment and in turn easing the pressure being put on Auckland’s infrastructure to keep up with its growing population.

What are your thoughts on this ?

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