One way traffic for REINZ housing report

The REINZ House Price Index (HPI), fell another 1.4% in August to be 5.9% down on the same month last year.

The median house price across the country of $800,000 was down by the same rate as the HPI in August. The rapid rise in mortgage rates this year continue to weigh on the market as debt servicing becomes increasingly expensive.

The median residential property price for New Zealand, excluding Auckland, remained unchanged compared to last year at $700,000. There was a month-on-month drop of 2.8% from $720,000.

Four regions had an annual decline in the median price last month. Auckland’s median price dropped 8.3% compared to August last year, down from $1,200,000 to $1,100,000. Six of Auckland’s seven territorial authorities had negative annual growth - down 13.4%, Waitakere had the greatest decline followed by Auckland City where the median price was down 12.3%.