Northland is one of two regions experiencing a growth in the median house price but a real estate expert is advising buyers and sellers to treat the lift with caution.

Figures from the Real Estate
Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows while the median house price across the country decreased by 12.2 per cent in December, Northland saw a rise of 3.3 per cent to $785,000, with Kaipara reaching a record median of $1.1 million to beat its prior record set in January 2022 of $1,075,000.

REINZ chief executive Jen Baird said owner-occupiers continued to be the most active buyer group in Northland and properties in the higher price brackets were maintaining value. She said there was an increase in first-home buyer interest, though not all resulted in sales.

Investors remained on the fence, she said, driven by uncertainty around rising interest rates and the expectation that prices would continue to ease.

Taranaki was the only other region to experience growth in median house prices last month. The region had a 5.1 per cent rise.

“Some vendors are still hoping for a premium price, but new and genuine vendors are taking the price adjustment in their stride. Fear of overpaying amongst buyers is still very much real in Northland’s market,” Baird said.

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said the lift in median prices in Northland was a bright spot among what was a grim set of figures, including a dip in sales volume of about 40 per cent on November sales and half of what sold in December 2021.

Buyers and sellers should be treating the lift with caution, and be aware that Northland prices peaked later than the rest of the country, and therefore the decline doesn’t quite show up in the year-on-year comparison.

“The overall trend in the housing market is downwards and the main driving factors of the downturn – rising interest rates and a cost-of-living squeeze – are unlikely to change any time soon, with volatility likely to be a feature of the market in 2023,” he said.

Overall, REINZ said house prices were still declining, with properties taking longer to sell across New Zealand.

Baird said the current days to sell of 42 days in Northland was less than the 10-year average for December which was 43 days.

There were 35 weeks of inventory in December 2022 which was 19 weeks more than the same time last year.

Top sale for Northland was $1.8m in the Far North District.

Sales count for Northland shows 107 houses were sold in December compared with 211 for the same month in 2021. The median price in Whangārei in December last year was $798,000 and $605,000 in the Far North district.

Baird said cheaper prices, coupled with more choice for buyers meant sellers have to be realistic about their price and timing expectations.

For some buyers, she said now was a great time to be in the market.

“If you can make the finances work, this is a good time to be a buyer. More stock, less competition and prices continuing to ease, will allow those who can get all the ducks in a row to buy well.”