The average asking price for a house in Auckland has dropped below $1 million for the first time in four years, according to new data.
According to the latest numbers from Trade Me Property, the average asking price for properties in Auckland dropped to $986,750 in August this year — down 1.3% from July. The online realtor said it was the first time the figure had sat at less than $1 million since September 2020.
Trade Me Property’s customer director Gavin Lloyd said August was the fifth consecutive month the city saw declining prices.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens to prices over the next month as we come into Spring,” he said.
“September results should be able to give us an indication as to whether we’ve just endured a difficult winter or if drops are as a result of a more structural weakness in the housing market.”
Nationally, the average asking price for August dropped 0.8% when compared with July and dipped 2.3% compared with 2023 to $818,250.
“We’ve not seen prices drop to this level since April 2021, and if we keep seeing consecutive falls, as we have done over the past five months, we could see the average price go below $800,000,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd said that now may be a “favourable” time to buy.
“If everything is in place – with both prices and interest rates dropping – now could be the right time to make your move,” he said.
When looking at asking prices by region, just five of 15 saw a year-on-year increase in asking prices. Four of those regions were in the South Island.
The regions that saw year-on-year increases were Marlborough (up 2.8%), West Coast (up 1.9%), Otago (up 6.3%), and Southland (up 5.5%).
Gisborne was the only North Island region to show “positive movement”, with average asking prices up 9.9%. Taranaki remained flat at 0.1%.
“If we look at the data on a month-to-month basis (July-August 2024) it paints a similar picture with Hawke’s Bay being the only region in the North showing positive growth, albeit modest at 2.3%. Whereas, in the south only the West Coast and Canterbury declined with falls,” Lloyd said.
“Gisborne is certainly an interesting region to look at particularly over the past six months. In February year-on-year prices were down 9.5% yet come August they were almost up 10%. That’s a dramatic turnaround in a relatively short time period.”
When it came to size, the asking prices of larger properties continued to “soften”, with homes of five bedrooms or more down 3.4% in August to $1,396,250.
“Bigger properties in Wellington and Auckland have both recorded falls down 8.7% and 2.5%, whereas Christchurch remained fairly flat down 0.2%,” Lloyd said.
In Wellington, one or two bedroom properties saw a drop of 9.7% to $651,800 in August.
“It’s a grim picture particularly for apartment living in Wellington with the average apartment shedding over $150,000 of its value since April,” Lloyd said.
