Sales were up for the month but prices down, according to the latest residential property statistics.
Figures compiled by the Real Estate Institute show the nationwide median house price has dropped from $170,000 in April to $167,875 in May. Meanwhile house sales rose from 7,004 to 7,162 over the same period.
Institute president Max Oliver says Wellington's the only region with consistently high median prices and high activity "and is continuing to run like an express train". He says the current low mortgage interest rates have had an impact on the number of new home owners, but expects that recent rate rises will show through in the next lot of statistics.
Looking a year back, the median house price is still up on May 1998 when the national figure stood at $164,000. House sales for that month were 5,300, well below the May 1999 total.
__ TOTAL DWELLINGS MEDIAN PRICE COMPARISONS FOR MAY__(information supplied by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand)
| | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | | ------------------------------------------------ | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- | | Northland | 115,000 | 138,000 | 147,500 | 153,000 | | Auckland | 227,500 | 235,000 | 232,000 | 230,000 | | Waikato/BOP/Gisborne | 133,000 | 145,000 | 150,000 | 156,500 | | Hawkes Bay | 117,750 | 128,100 | 120,000 | 127,000 | | Manawatu/Wanganui | 95,000 | 101,000 | 96,000 | 102,000 | | Taranaki | 95,000 | 95,250 | 91,000 | 95,000 | | Wellington | 139,500 | 152,000 | 168,500 | 170,000 | | Nelson/Marlborough | 135,750 | 133,500 | 145,500 | 142,500 | | Canterbury/Westland (including South Canterbury) | 132,000 | 138,450 | 140,000 | 140,000 | | Otago | 95,875 | 97,000 | 95,000 | 86,000 | | Southland | 80,000 | 85,000 | 66,500 | 76,000 | | Total | 148,000 | 162,500 | 164,000 | 167,875 |
