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THE real estate industry is puzzled by New Zealand's latest housing market figures. But economists say the market is on a downward trend.
The latest figures issued show Wellington and Hawke's Bay were among the few regions to record house sale price increases. The Wellington median sale price was up 4.6 per cent from $261,000 in March to $273,000, while the Hawke's Bay median house price rose 7.7 per cent to $210,000.
Along with Auckland and Southland, these were the only regions to buck the trend of lower sale prices. In Nelson-Marlborough, where house prices have been rising faster than anywhere else in the past few months, the median sale price fell 7.6 per cent from $275,000 to $254,000.
However, the performances of Wellington and Auckland, and sales of some high-priced properties, were apparently enough to lift the national median sale price from $240,500 to $242,000. That was 19.2 per cent up on the same time last year.
Real Estate Institute president Graeme Woodley said the latest figures were "hard to take a reading off".
"While some commentators are saying that the housing market is running out of steam, the latest figures don't currently provide evidence to support their claims," Mr Woodley said.
Deutsche Bank chief economist Ulf Schoefisch said the gradual reduction in housing market pressure was evident in the rise in the median number of days that it took to sell a property, from 29 to 30.
He estimated that house price inflation had slowed to 2 per cent for the quarter, down from 7.3 per cent at the July-September quarter last year.