Auckland property prices continue to rise despite rate hikes

By NZPA

Thursday 7th June 2007

An Auckland real estate company said property prices continued to rise in May despite two consecutive interest rate rises.

Barfoot & Thompson sold 1100 properties last month for an average price of $557,546, up 4.7% on April and 16.3% higher than a year earlier.

The company reports sales which have been settled, and many of the May transactions would have been signed up in March and April during the Reserve Bank's official cash rate hikes, director Peter Thompson said.

"It's interesting to see such underlying strength in the property market despite the prospect of higher home loan rates," he said.

"We've been consistent in our view that the market will continue to demonstrate an underlying strength and the figures for May continue to support that position."

The OCR is now at 8.00% after the Reserve Bank lifted it today for a third time this year as it tried to reign in inflation, partly driven by the housing market.

The company's property management division reported a company record for average weekly rent, which rose to $375 a week in May from $361 in April, from a total of 627 houses and units.

Compare rental and house price statistics online today at www.Landlords.co.nz.

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