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February 2012 data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) indicates strong sales growth in the residential housing market, with 6,168 unconditional sales for the month. The volume of sales is up by 37.0% or 1,666 sales compared with the same time last year, and is the best February result the market has recorded since 2008. The national median house price remained steady for the third straight month at $355,000 and is up $5,000 (+1.4%) compared with February 2011. While the volume increase is significant, it is worth noting that the February 2012 result is just 65.9% of the 9,357 sales recorded in February 2007.

In line with the usual pattern for this time of year, February sales volume increased by over 50% compared to January. However, on a seasonally adjusted basis the national total was up just 3.0%. All regions apart from Otago and Canterbury/Westland recorded double digit growth compared to February last year; Otago recorded single digit growth, while Canterbury/Westland’s sales volume more than doubled compared to February last year when the market was impacted by the February 22 earthquake and its aftermath.

For the month of February, Otago recorded the highest lift in prices for the month (+6.3%), followed by Hawkes Bay with +4.6%, and Waikato/Bay of Plenty and Northland, both with 3.3%. Compared to February 2011, Canterbury/Westland also recorded the highest lift in prices (+14.0%), followed by Waikato/Bay of Plenty (+1.9%) and Otago (+1.8%). The REINZ Stratified House Price, which adjusts for some of the variations in mix that can impact on the median price, is 2.7% higher than February 2011.