NZ home prices and sales volumes dip in Dec

[WELLINGTON] New Zealand house prices in December retreated from a record high, while the number of houses sold also slipped from the previous month, the Real Estate Institute of NZ (Reinz) said yesterday.

The Reinz's house price index slipped one per cent from the month before, to be 9.2 per cent higher than the same month a year earlier. The number of houses sold was down 18.3 per cent from November.

The housing market has picked up since early 2012, particularly in Auckland, the country's biggest city, and earthquake-damaged Christchurch, as a shortage of houses in both cities has been bolstering prices.