NZ median house price edges up 0.5 percent in June

New Zealand's median house price rose in June to within $6,000 of its March record while the volume of sales fell nationally from the strongest May month in six years.

The median house price rose 0.5 percent to $394,000 in June and seven of the 12 regions measured recorded increases, according to the Real Estate Institute. There were 6,135 homes sold last month, down 20.5 percent from May and little changed from June 2012.

Days to sell improved to 34 from 35 in May.

Records were still broken in the latest month. The median house price for Canterbury/Westland rose about 19 percent from the same month of 2012 to a record $365,000, while sales in that region fell 24 percent to 773.

The REINZ Stratified Median Housing Price Index, the Reserve Bank's preferred measure that strips out distortions in the data, fell 1.1 points in June from May to 3,685.8. On the stratified index basis, Auckland rose 4.4 percent to a new record, Christchurch rose 1.4 percent and Other South Island gained 0.5 percent, both also to record levels.

The median price in Auckland fell 1.8 percent to $555,000 in June and the volume of properties sold fell 19 percent to 2,485. Northland's median price fell 2.3 percent to $293,000 and the volume sold fell 15 percent to 157.

Waikato/Bay of Plenty recorded a 0.2 percent increase in median house price to $320,000 and a 15 percent decline in sales to 910. For Hawkes Bay, the median price fell 4.7 percent to $271,500 and sales fell about one third to 162.

Manawatu/Wanganui's median price fell 2.9 percent to $221,000 and sales fell 23 percent to 236. Taranaki's median price rose 1 percent to $283,400 and sales dropped 23 percent to 161.

Wellington's median price rose 2.6 percent in June from May to $400,000 while sales tumbled 25 percent to 590.

In Nelson/Marlborough the median price fell 3.5 percent to $341,250 and sales fell 17 percent to 220. Central Otago Lakes median price fell 12 percent to $410,000 and sales dipped 10 percent to 110.

Otago's median price rose 5.4 percent to $245,000 while the volume of sales fell 25 percent to 213. Southland's median price was up 0.8 percent from May to $201,000 as the volume of sales dropped 30 percent to 118.

(BusinessDesk)