May 2026 Housing Market Update

*Includes Barfoot & Thompson Auckland residential sales that have gone unconditional. Excludes Northland and commercial sales.

Auckland Housing Market Shrugs Off Middle East Concerns

The Auckland housing market shrugged off the shadow the Middle East conflict cast over April’s trading with strong buyer activity in May, resulting in sales numbers and sales prices increasing.

“Buyers decided that they had been over cautious in April, and returned to the market in strength in May,” said Peter Thompson, Managing Director of Barfoot & Thompson.

“Sales for the month at 885 were up more than a quarter on those for April while the median price at $980,000 was 2.6% higher and the average price at $1,157,213 was 2.3% higher.

“In May, the market returned to the modest growth we saw in the first quarter of the year and is performing more positively than during the first 5 months of 2025.

“Rather than being a pointer for sales activity for the remainder of the year, April’s rather muted sales performance may well be an overreaction, with buyers following the Reserve Bank’s lead in ‘seeing through’ the economic impact of the Middle East conflict.   

“It is encouraging to see the market displaying such resilience. 

“At this time last year, the median price was 5.5% lower, and there were only two months in 2025 when the median price exceeded May’s $980,000.

“Buyers in the $2 million plus bracket were strongly represented in May’s result while buyers in the under $750,000 price category represented 20% of total sales.  

“New listings for the month were strong at 1,586 but fell away by 9.1% on those for April with properties for sale at month end being 6,188 – down 2.6% on those for last month and slightly higher by 1.7% on those at this time last year.

“The rural and lifestyle markets to the north, west and south of Auckland did not experience the bounce experienced by the Auckland metropolitan market. While still a healthy $47.4million, sales were subdued when compared with those for March and April.”

Barfoot & Thompson knows Auckland best. It is the city’s leading real estate company, selling around one in three Auckland residential homes, significantly ahead of all other competitor brands. 

For further information, contact Peter Thompson, Managing Director, Barfoot & Thompson, telephone 09 307 5523 or 027 453 5931 www.barfoot.co.nz.  

Released on behalf of Barfoot & Thompson by Network Communication (Dennis Lynch) telephone 021 963 733, dennis.lynch@networkcommunication.co.nz