Auckland rent rises continue

Friday 3rd December 2010 1 Comment

House sale volumes rose 19.1% in Auckland during November and property rentals continued their steady rise, with the average weekly rent increasing $2 to $411, according to Barfoot & Thompson.

Barfoot said the rent rises had been seen across 729 new rentals in Auckland.

"Each month for the past four months the average weekly rent has increased, and there remains a strong demand for rental accommodation," said Barfoot & Thompson director Peter Thompson.

Greater activity in high value properties in well established locations pushed the average sale price for Auckland in November to $553,743.

"This is the highest average monthly price for nearly three years and it is attributable to a greater level of high value sales in the inner ring of suburbs around the central business district, and along the eastern suburbs."

House sales volumes, at 668, were up 19.1% on October though still down on the average for this time of the year.

The increase in sales was welcomed by Westpac coming after the "shocking decline" seen over the month earlier.

"Seasonally adjusted house sales rose 10%, reversing the weakness from the previous month," the bank said.

However, it added sales remain well below normal levels for the time of year "and should still be considered low."

Thompson said that while sales volumes had started to build, partly attributed to vendors and buyers reaching agreement on market value, "sales are not as strong as in past years."

During November Barfoot listed 1639 properties for sale, up 17.4% on October and the highest number since March. At month end total listings were 6179, up 5.4% on the previous month.

Barfoot also recorded a higher than normal amount of high-level house sales.

"In November we sold 55 homes valued at more than $1 million, and 122 homes valued at more than $750,000," Thompson said.

"More than a quarter of our sales were at the high value end, a far greater percentage than is normal. While high value sales have pushed the average price up, what it underlines is the confidence people have in Auckland property in the medium term."

Comments from our readers

On 5 December 2010 at 10:22 am Adam said:

Would be interesting the see the change to median house prices vs average.