Tough year for Barfoot & Thompson

Just 527 properties were sold in December and overall 8,469 during the year, the lowest number since 2010 when 7,987 were sold.

Half of the properties sold last month were in the $1-2 million range, 32% were in the $750,000 to $1 million bracket, while sales of houses priced at more than $2 million accounted for just 7%, or 37 of the total number. 

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson says while sellers are listing they are cautious about offers.

“While the drivers putting pressure on prices, such as rising interest rates and inflation, concerns over future economic activity and more properties for sale than there have been for a decade remain, vendors have become cautious about accepting what they consider to be too low an offer.