Auckland house prices at record high

Good news for Aucklanders wanting to sell their home, but not for first home buyers.

The Real Estate Institute has released its sale data figures for March which show the median house price in Auckland has reached a record high of just over $495,000.

Chief executive Helen O'Sullivan says it means first home buyers will struggle to tap into the Auckland market.

"That's the median price, so that's the mid range. Sure half the properties are prices lower than that, but it does make it tough to buy your first property."

Helen O'Sullivan says the median price for Auckland is up 5.4 percent on the same time last year.

On the flip side, Ms O'Sullivan says it's good news for people looking to sell their home.

"Prices are back at a level people consider acceptable, there's more confidence that if you put your property on the market now you'll get a price that you can be happy with."

Helen O'Sullivan says there's very fierce competition to buy and sell in Auckland.

Ms O'Sullivan says it's difficult to say what's going to happen in the next quarter.

"We'd expect to see some continuing steady gains in the volumes, hopefully some stability on the price side. I guess the issue is it's all about stock and it's something we're hearing all across the country."

Helen O'Sullivan says the industry is concerned about the lack of stock and the fact very few new builds are coming to the market.

Image: NZ Herald