Official data released by the real estate firm Barfoot and Thompson has revealed that the average sale price for residential properties across Auckland for the month of December was almost similar to the peak hit in 2007, but the company is expecting the prices to decline slightly in January before going strong again.

For the month of December, the average sales across Auckland, at $552,933, were the highest in 24 months. But instead of capital gains, buyers seemed to be more on the outlook for lifestyle and value for money.

As shared by Managing Director Peter Thompson, the real estate firm managed to sell 648 properties in December, which is the highest figure recorded for the month in 2 long years and 40.6% higher than the numbers for the same month the past year.

"Regardless of how you analyze the sales data, sellers are now achieving almost a similar price for property as they would have at the height of the 2007 property boom. Average monthly prices have now increased for the past three months, and the average monthly price for 2009 of $522,297 is 1.7% higher than that for 2008 and 3% down on that for 2007", he said.

Despite the highest number of new listings in a December recorded for 2 years, the company had the lowest number of properties on its books for the month of January.