25 per cent in the average asking price over the past year. “After entering the $900,000 bracket for the first time in November, the national average asking price continued to break records and show unprecedented growth last month,” Trade Me sales director Gavin Lloyd said. “December marked the third month in a row where we saw property prices increase by more than 20 per cent year-on-year.”
The biggest annual increases were recorded for small houses, with a 29 per cent hike in the average asking price for one or two-bedroom properties. In the case of urban properties like apartments and townhouses, national average asking price reached a record high of $771,950 last month. According to Lloyd, the number of houses for sale jumped by 6 per cent year-on-year in December, although there was a 4 per cent drop in nationwide demand when compared with the same month the previous year.
In terms of variations among geographies, the middle of the North Island registered the biggest increases in the average asking price, with a 32 per cent annual hike in Hawke’s Bay region and a 30 per cent increase in Manawatū/Whanganui region. In the Wellington region, the average asking price reached $966,300 in December, a 27 per cent increase from the previous year, while in Auckland, the figure climbed 22 per cent to a record $1,253,600 last month.
