BARFOOT & THOMPSON: December 2021 Housing Market Update

The Auckland property market sustained its momentum right to the end of 2021 with prices at or near record levels and sales numbers remaining at high levels.

“The market hit the Christmas break at full speed,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“The average sales price in the month was a record $1,278,647, achieved across 911 sales.

“This was up 7.4 percent on the average price for the past three months, and 17 percent higher than at the same time last year.

“The median price for the month at $1,235,000, was 0.4 percent down on that for November, but 22.9 percent higher than at this time last year.

“The market took news of rising interest rates, tighter bank lending criteria and changes to investor taxation restrictions in its stride, with strong buyer interest right up to Christmas Eve.

“Buyers were not deterred by current prices, and during December we sold 255 homes for more than $2 million.

“In spite of being severely hampered by Covid regulations for 15 weeks, 2021 was the company’s most active since 2015, and on average we sold 1119 properties each month.

“Our median sales price for the year in 2021 at $1,102,000 was 19.9 percent higher than that for the previous year, and this year-on-year increase was the highest increases in the past decade, surpassing the 17 percent increases recorded in 2015.

“Our average yearly sales price for the year in 2021 at $1,153,252 was 16.4 percent higher than that for the previous year, and this year-on-year increase was the highest increase in the past decade, surpassing the 14 percent increase, also recorded in 2015.

“With 948 new listings in December, and 3646 listings on our books at the end of December, we will enter 2022 with nearly a quarter more homes for sale than at the same time in 2021.

“The majority of commentators are forecasting that prices will continue to increase in the first half of 2022, but that the rate of increase will decline.

“Trading in the Auckland property market is invariably patchy in the first weeks of the year, and any trends in terms of prices and sales numbers is unlikely to be established until February’s data is released in early March.

“The rural and lifestyle markets to the north and south of Auckland, and Northland, had a strong finish to the year, with sales of more than $105 million in December. The average monthly sales for

the year in these two markets was $95.5 million dollars, surpassing last year’s monthly average by 37 percent.”