January house sales and prices dropped last month but are still up compared to January last year.
Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand says sales fell by 31 percent in January, compared to December, with more than 4800 houses sold.
But January sales are still 2.6 percent higher than in January 2014.
Chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said January's data reflected the typical summer slowdown, but the fall from December was steeper than usual because it had been a strong month.
The Housing Price Index fell 1 percent compared with December, with drops in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.
However, for the 12 months to January, the Auckland Index rose by 15 percent.
