A late spring surge in the property market has pushed up sales and prices in November, according to Real Estate Institute figures.
During November, 5138 properties were sold, from below 5000 in each of the previous five months. In October, 3,903 properties had sold.
The national median house price rose from $350,000 in October to $360,000 in November.
The average price is now $5000 more than in November 2009, and just $500 below the record price in March this year.
Institute spokesperson Bryan Thomson expects the increased activity to continue through the summer, without the usual slowdown for Christmas.
It took an average of 40 days to sell a house in November, compared to 41 days in October and 43 in September and August.
