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Housing market - house for sale - Source: ONE News
House sales dropped to their lowest level in 18 years in January, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
REINZ says 3,666 houses sold during the month, the lowest since electronic records of the survey started in 1992, and only the second time the figure has dropped below 4,000.
Figures first dropped below 4,000 in January last year.
Compared with December last year, 1,291 fewer houses were sold in January 2010.
REINZ president Peter McDonald attributes the cool-off to uncertainty over the government's direction on property tax.
The government had been assessing a report by the Tax Working Group which had suggested the government consider, among other recommendations, a capital gains tax, a land tax, and a disallowance of depreciation on residential investment property.
The government has since ruled out a comprehensive capital gains tax and a land tax.
"Hopefully the market will start to pick up now things are a bit clearer after the Prime Minister gave his opening speech to parliament on Tuesday," McDonald says.
Overall, $1.52 billion worth of houses were sold in January. The median house price was up $25,000 on January 2009, but down $10,000 on the December median.
REINZ says the median house price rose in 11 out of the 12 regions when compared with January 2009.
The Central Otago/Lakes region was the only one to experience a drop in median price, falling 10.4% fall to $410,000.
The Otago region showed the strongest growth in sales, up 17.9% to $247,500, followed by Taranaki up 12.5% to $300,000, and Canterbury/Westland up 12.1% to $319,500.
Sales in the Auckland region rose 6.7% to $450,500 and Wellington rose 3.5% to $375,00.
It took a median of 43 days for houses to sell in January, 16 days quicker than in January last year, but 10 days longer than in December 2009.
REINZ says sales were quickest in Southland, at 33 median days, and in Auckland, at 36 days.
Meanwhile, REINZ's monthly House Price Index decreased 1.6% to 3,201.8 in January.
The index basically shows the average sale prices for common
groups of properties across 1,800 suburbs.
