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Auckland’s largest real estate agency pushed up sales last month but its glut of unsold homes has now hit a record. 

Barfoot & Thompson’s unsold stock numbers have been climbing lately, with 5300 places unsold in January and 5900 in February but 6200 last month. 

Peter Thompson, managing director, said: “The Auckland housing market has responded aggressively to improved buying conditions with turnover in March hitting the highest number of sales in a month for more than three years, and with prices at their highest this calendar year. The long-anticipated housing market recovery has finally arrived.” 

The agency sold 1213 properties in March, the most since July 2021. 

Thompson acknowledged the glut also: “Buyer choice remains at an all-time high despite the high sales in March, and we listed 2103 new properties in the month through a combination of new builds reaching the market and existing properties”. 

But he said sales activity was high in all price segments. 

Peter Thompson, Kiri Barfoot and Stephen Barfoot at the agency's headquarters on Shortland St. 

“We sold 28 homes for more than $3 million, the highest number in a month for three years and another 61 between $2m to $3m. Sales activity in the rural and lifestyle markets in Northland and the Auckland region also increased significantly in March, with sales of close to $65m across 39 properties.” 

Turnover in the rural and lifestyle markets was up 48% on February and in line with turnover at the same time last year. 

The agency’s average residential sale price was $1.14m in March, up on January’s $1.05m and February’s $1.10m. 

January’s median was $950,000, February’s $930,000 and March’s $970,000. 

Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold 

Kelly Eckhold, Westpac chief economist, today flagged expectations that the Reserve Bank would cut the Official Cash Rate to 3.5% at its April meeting. 

Further cuts after May look less likely. 

On March 17, the Real Estate Institute released February house sales data showing the median price for Auckland decreased by 0.5% annually to $1.01m. 

It noted reluctance by some Aucklanders to accept prices offered: “Some vendors were meeting market expectations and being realistic regarding asking price, while others had begun to expect a higher price”. 

It took an median of 55 days to sell an Auckland residence which is more than the 10-year average of February which is 47 days. 

For New Zealand, excluding Auckland, sales experienced a 5.6% annual rise, from 4252 to 4491, REINZ said. 

Notable growth in sales was observed on the West Coast (+22.2%) and Taranaki (+20.6%). All regions reported an increase in sales from the slow January to a busier February. 

REINZ also noted increasing levels of unsold homes nationally. 

National inventory levels increased by 13.6% annually to 35,712 and 10.2% from January to February. 

But REINZ also noted an upswing in activity: “Sales in New Zealand generally rise from January to February, though the exact shift becomes clearer once seasonal trends are accounted for.” 

The ANZ Property Focus out last month referred to a lacklustre house sales market. 

The housing market continued to warm in February with house prices posting another monthly gain while seasonally adjusted sales volumes returned to growth, that said. 

“The strong flow of new listings onto the market continued, and the relative supply-demand imbalance is likely to restrain house price growth in the near term. We continue to expect price momentum to remain sluggish over coming months as a soft labour market weighs on household confidence. 

“There are early signs of stabilisation in the labour market, which should support momentum later this year, though for now households remain in a cautious mood,” the ANZ commentary said. 

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.