Central Otago/Lakes District has struck the highest average asking price for homes in the country, with analysts picking further upward pressure on prices.
Asking prices in Central Otago/Lakes, tracked by Realestate.co.nz, rose 4.5% from December to hit $861,723 in January, while in Auckland asking prices fell 2.3% to $828,629 in January, from $848,195 in December.
The asking price data further reflects the growing predicament of first-home buyers struggling to get into the hot market; also underlined by other recent property data, based on median prices and affordability.
ASB senior economist Jane Turner said the decline in the number of houses for sale was not isolated to Auckland, with new listings falling in most regions during the past year.
‘‘This fall in supply relative to demand will keep upward pressure on house prices,'' she said.
Housing demand in the regions had picked up during the year, due to low interest rates and Auckland's ‘‘halo effect'', which is pushing home buyers and investors to look well beyond the city's boundaries for more affordable housing, she said.
Ms Turner said the number of new Auckland listings had fallen for five months in a row, confirming anecdotes many potential sellers brought forward listings to make a sale before the Reserve Bank's loan to values changes, and new tax rules, took effect.
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Brendon Skipper said the national inventory of housing on the market in January hit a new all time low of 14.7 weeks, meaning if no new listings were taken, the country's housing stock would all be sold within 14.7 weeks.
‘‘In addition, the total number of new listings across the country in January was 8144, down 14.6% compared to the same month a year ago,'' he said.
The record highs in the average asking price in a number of regions had to be seen in the context of fewer listings and tightening inventory levels, he said.
Eight regions recorded record highs in average asking prices in January.
‘‘Though this was off the back of a record low in inventory and a decline in new listings,'' he said in a statement.
Mr Skipper said the Central Otago/Lakes figure of $861,723 was the highest average asking price of any region, and an increase of 4.5% from December, but new listings were down 35% from January last year.
Bay of Plenty reached a new high of $501,961, up 3% from the previous high of $487,052 set in November, making if only the fourth region in the country to break the $500,000 ceiling.
Other parts of the country which experienced record highs in average asking prices included Wellington, Canterbury, Waikato, Taranaki, Coromandel and Southland, but most posted a listings decline.
