Auckland's rate of house sales has fallen to the lowest level since the Global Financial Crisis, real estate agency Barfoot & Thompson says.
Sales numbers in April were down by a third compared to the average of the previous three months. There were 664 sales in April, compared to 1110 in March and 944 in April 2016.
Often, a drop in sales numbers is a precursor to a fall in prices.
But Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said the slowdown had not yet had an impact on prices.
"The median sales price at $850,000 for the month was down only $5500 on the average median price for the previous three months," he said.
"The same trend was there around the average price, which at $917,079 was down only $25,000 on the average for the previous three months.
"While prices have declined from March's all-time record highs, the fall relative to the average for the first quarter of this year is modest, and on a year-on-year basis the median price is up 3.7 per cent and the average price is up 5 per cent."
But Thompson said the market had changed.
"You have to go back nine years to find an April in which fewer homes were sold. Buyers are being far more selective, are taking their time over committing and are only prepared to pay the market price.
"Vendors are not lowering their price expectations significantly but are accepting that to achieve an above-market sales price in the current climate their house has to be special."
There were 192 new listings in April.
The drop in sales numbers was felt across all price rungs, Thompson said. More than a third of sales were for more than $1 million and 6 per cent under $500,000.
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