Auckland property market finally takes a breather
1:00PM Friday May 04, 2007
The Auckland property market is taking what one real estate company is calling a "breather".
Barfoot and Thompson says the average sale price fell six per cent from March to April, from $564,000 to just over $532,000. However it says total sales for April were ahead of the same month last year.
These figures come out in the wake of recent news that the dream of owning a home is now well out of reach for the average wage-earner, many of whom appear doomed to a lifetime of renting.
A property consultancy predicted that 58 per cent of the population will be renting by 2016, with Auckland leading the way.
Analysing their latest statistics, the real estate firm blames a combination of school and public holidays, plus buyer caution prompted by rising interest rates.
Director Peter Thompson says holidays tend to disrupt the sales cycle, pointing to Easter, Anzac Day and two weeks of school holidays during April.
He says there was also a lot of anticipation the Reserve Bank was about to increase interest rates, a fear which proved well founded when Dr Bollard raised the Official Cash Rate (OCR) up to 7.75 per cent last week.
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