The average average sale price of a home in Auckland depreciated by $15,000 (£7,500) from April to May, according to the latest data released by New Zealand property agency Barfoot and Thompson.
The average price of an Auckland home sold in May was $529,284 (£265,000), down from April's average sale price of $544,975 (£272,600).
Peter Thompson, Barfoot managing director, said the latest price followed a three month trend where the average price for the month was higher than that for the preceding month.
January's average was $515,693 (£258,000), February's $521,887 (£261,000) and March $581,190 (£290,000).
Mr Thompson said that the softening in Auckland property prices had attracted more buyers.
“We sold 889 properties in May, a quarter more than we did in April, and 12.2 per cent more than we did in May last year. This combination of rising sales and the average price easing demonstrates that prices are not starting to overheat.”
New Zealand is a popular destination for Brits seeking to emigrate or acquire a long distance holiday home, but the Barfoot and Thompson report suggests that there is a lack of choice for buyers.
Thompson added: “At the end of May we had only 5,249 properties on our books, the lowest number for 20 months.
“A contributing factor to the decline in the average sales price was the relatively low number of million dollar plus sales that settled in May.”