Auckland asking prices up 9.6%

Auckland average residential property asking prices rose 9.6 per cent in the past year to hit $ 925,300, slightly below the national increase of 10.2 per cent to $644,600, according to Trade Me Property.

Christchurch asking prices dropped 0.8 per cent to an average of $471,150, but Wellington outstripped other areas with a 13.2 per cent rise in the asking price from April last year to last month.

Wellington’s average is now $541,900.

Canterbury was the only region to show a year-on-year decline in the average asking price, with eight regions seeing double-digit growth over the past year, Trade Me said.

Nigel Jeffries, head of Trade Me Property, said a typical property outside Auckland now had an average asking price in excess of half a million dollars.

Bay of Plenty average asking prices rose 12.6 per cent annually but dropped from $590,650 in March to $588,350 in April.

But Jeffries said that was only a blip.

“I wouldn’t get too excited about a trend reversal here, as we’ve seen a 13 per cent rise in the average asking price over the past year, up more than $65,000,” he said.

Canterbury prices continue to be rocked by the state of the market and Jeffries said it was now almost a regular fixture to see the region in such stark contrast to the rest of the nation.

There was notable growth in the Nelson/Tasman region, up 18.3 per cent annually to $539,250. Marlborough was also up a significant 14.7 per cent to a new record high of $440,600.

Real Estate Institute data on national sales and median prices is due out today.

Anne Gibson property editor