10 Jul 2012

Upward movement in housing market, surveys show

5:22 pm on 10 July 2012

Two surveys released on Tuesday show upward movement in the property market.

Quotable Value says the average house in New Zealand is now valued at $410,000 and could reach the 2007 high of $415,000 by September this year.

Figures released by the Real Estate Institute show house sale prices have already surpassed the 2007 peak.

The median sale price is now $372,000, compared with $352,000 in 2007.

Despite prices and values getting back to the 2007 market peak, sales numbers are still down about a third on sales for that year.

The Real Estate Institute, Quotable Value and agents say this is a sign of property recovery - not a property boom.

Nationwide sales are still one third below peak levels, while values have increased only one third as quickly as they did in the boom between 2003 and 2007.

House sales rise in June

House sales jumped 17% in June, compared with the same month in 2011.

The Real Estate Institute says just over 6000 houses were sold in the month, up 900 from June last year. However, compared with May, sales fell 14%.

The Canterbury West Coast region saw a jump of 56% in house sales in June compared with the June 2011 and a rise of 8% in sale price.

Taranaki was the only region not to have a boost in sales in the month.