Leading real estate firm says its figures show Auckland property market has grown by 11% since start of the year

Sales figures from a leading Auckland real estate company show there has been no let up in the property boom in the Queen City.

Barfoot and Thompson director Peter Thompson says overall prices have increased by 11 percent in Auckland since the beginning of the year.

The average price paid for houses sold by the company in April was $398,650, up from $358,270 in January.

"Clearly the figures have been influenced by a large number of high value sales, as almost 40 percent of properties sold by the company during April were for $500,000 or more. This compares to about 29 percent in January this year.

"It would appear that our figures back up the views recently expressed by economists who suggested that investors are shying away from other traditional areas of investment such as the share market and managed funds in favour of property."

Mr Thompson believes that property prices are "very unlikely" to keep appreciating at this rate and he expects them to reach a plateau in the second half of the year.

© 2003 NZCity, IRN