After very strong rises in March, the housing market fell in April - a traditionally poor month - says the Real Estate Institute.
The national median selling price fell $8,000 to $272,000.
The average house price has risen 12.4% in the last twelve months.
The number of houses sold was down from 10,398 in April 2004 to 8,876 in April 2005.
The average number of days needed to sell a house was unchanged at 28 days.
National President of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (Inc), Mr Howard Morley said,
“The reduced median for April needs to be seen against the particularly sharp jump in March. The April median is ahead of February and also ahead of the April 2004 median price of $242,000.”
House Price Changes
| Region | Median Price March |
Change since February |
| Northland | $230,000 | down 4.1 % |
| Auckland Region | $369,000 | down 0.8 % |
| Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne | $244,000 | down 1.6 % |
| Hawke’s Bay’s | $230,000 | down 4.1 % |
| Manawatu/Wanganui | $155,000 | 0.0 % |
| Taranaki | $162,600 | down 26.0 % * |
| Wellington Region | $275,000 | down 4.8 % |
| Nelson/Marlborough | $269,000 | down 6.3 % |
| Canterbury/Westland | $242,000 | down 2.8 % |
| Otago | $216,100 | down 1.3 % |
| Southland | $144,500 | down 1.7 % |
* Large decrease believed to be caused by disproportionately high sales of lower-priced houses.