Auckland market sends "mixed messages" for 2016

Photo: Craigsydnz

The Auckland property market is sending "mixed messages" for 2016, as sales fall but prices stay steady.

Agent Barfoot & Thompson sold just 796 units in December 2015, down 19.3 per cent from November 2015. This marks the lowest number of sales in a December for four years and the lowest figure of any month in almost two years.

This is despite the number of new listings available to buy being at their highest level for a December in four years.

The average sales price, however, only slipped 0.8 per cent month-on-month to $869,492, while the median sales price climbed 0.6 per cent to an all-time high of $800,000. Indeed, 2015 marked a series of record peaks for Auckland's property prices as demand repeatedly outpaced supply. Across the whole year, the average sales price rose 14 per cent from 2014 to $817,096, while the median price rose 17.4 per cent to $755,333.

"Sales data for the final month of the year is sending mixed messages as to where the market will head in 2016," comments Peter Thompson.

The overall trend may continue in early 2016, though, with supply at the end of December fell 25.2 per cent from the end of November, taking it to a 20-year low.

"With a growing population and the number of new builds failing to keep pace with demand, competition for properties is likely to remain strong in the first quarter of 2016," predicts Thompson, although notes that it will not be until data from February is available that a clearer indication of the market's direction for 2016 will be evident.

"What is clear, however, is that with so few properties on the market, now is an excellent time to list," he adds. "In December, 278 properties sold for in excess of $1 million and a further 202 for in excess of $750,000."