PETER THOMPSON'S OCTOBER MARKET UPDATE

PRICE SHACKLES LOOSEN IN OCTOBER

The latest report from Peter Thompson confirms a shift in the market - we've taken some highlights from his report below..

In October, the Auckland residential property market took a confident step forward on the path to recovery.

Growth was modest, but it was across the board, with a high number of new listings, sales numbers increasing and both the median and average sales prices for the month exceeding $1 million for the first time since March.

Vendors returned to the market in strength, with new listings for the month at 1,829, a quarter higher than in September, and a third higher than for the same month last year.

Buyers were also prepared to commit, and sales at 846 were the highest for an October for three years, and a third higher than in the same month last year.

The shackles of rising interest rates and economic uncertainty, that have held back prices, were loosened with the median price hitting $1,011,250.

This is the highest median price in the past seven months and was up 2.5 percent on that for September and 1.8 percent higher than the average for the past 3 months.

A feature of October’s sales was the level of interest shown in housing in the $1 million to $2 million price bracket. While always the segment with the largest number of sales, in October it accounted for 54 percent of all sales, the first time this year that this price category has accounted for more than half of all sales.

Peter Thompson