Wintry effect on city house prices

Christchurch’s housing market appears to be settling in for a quiet winter, with prices slipping from a record high in autumn and sellers holding back.

The city’s median house price in May was $455,000, according to sales figures from the Real Estate Institute. This was the same figure as May 2016.

Christchurch’s all-time high median price of $470,000 was reached in March this year.

Prices have been bouncing about slightly since the market began flattening out early last year as rebuilding and repairs replenished the city’s housing supply.

The number of sales in the city in May was 11 per cent lower than a year earlier.

For the Canterbury region, the median May price was $431,500, down 1.9 per cent from $440,000 a year ago, the institute said. This is 1.9 per cent down compared with May 2016.

A total of 953 homes sold in the region, down five per cent from 1007 sales a year ago.

Institute director Jim Davis said Canterbury’s housing market was ‘‘noticeably quieter’’, but this was typical in winter months.

Davis said some owners were holding back from putting their homes up for sale because of the lack of active buyers. This would probably stop prices from falling further, he said.

He said that with many investors deterred from buying by lending restrictions, it was a good time for first buyers to make a move.

Median prices were up in the Hurunui, Timaru and Waimate districts, and took the biggest dip in the Mackenzie district.

TradeMe reported the average asking price for Christchurch homes on its site during May was $471,350, about the same as in May 2016.

Nationally, the median house price for May was $540,000, the real estate institute said.

The dearest homes are in Queenstown and Auckland. The cheapest are in Southland.