Auckland Property Market Went Into Lockdown On Record High

PHOTO: Barfoot & Thompson

The Auckland residential property market was in full recovery mode before being stopped in its tracks by the Covid-19 lockdown.

“Confidence in Auckland property was high in February and the first weeks of March, and new listings, sales numbers and prices were at their highest for a number of years,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“New listings for March at 1,763 was the highest in 17 months.

“Sales at 1,096 were above 1,000 in a month for the first time for two years.

“The average sales price at $993,528 was a new high, and almost $25,000 higher than the previous high set in March 2017.

“And the median price at $925,000 was also a new high, being $25,000 above the previous high also set in March 2017.

“March’s excellent sales figures built on the platform established by January and February trading and our first quarter sales were the best since 2016.

“Without the intervention of Covid-19 we could have anticipated the market’s momentum to have run through to late autumn.

“A factor that affected both the average and median sales was the exceptionally high number of properties that sold in the $1 million plus and $2 million plus price categories.