WELLINGTON: New Zealand house prices and sales bounded higher in October, but solid demand is still outstripping supply, especially in the country's major cities, the Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) said on Friday.
The REINZ's house price index rose 1.5 percent from September, when they rose 0.6 percent, and was up 6.9 percent from the same month last year. The index is now at a record level.
"The market is very much in two parts - the metropolitan regions of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch where prices are rising and the rest of the country where price trends are mixed," said REINZ Chief Executive Helen O'Sullivan.
The housing market has picked up, particularly in major cities, after being sluggish for much of 2011, as the economy improved, albeit at a slow pace.
The median house sale price, which is different from the index, rose to a record NZ$380,000 ($311,475) from NZ$371,000 in the previous month.
The number of houses sold by REINZ members rose 17 percent to 6,640 in October from September, and were up 32.6 percent on a year earlier. It was the strongest October monthly showing for five years.
REINZ said it took 32 days to sell a house last month against 33 days in September. Over the past 10 years, the national median days to sell has averaged 33 days.
The government valuation agency, Quotable Valuer, reported on Thursday house prices held around record levels in October.
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