NZ house sales drop 10 percent in March, loan curbs weigh on cheaper housing

NZ house sales drop 10 percent in March, loan curbs weigh on cheaper housing
April 11 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand house sales dropped 10 percent in March from a year earlier as the Reserve Bank’s restrictions on low-equity mortgages continue to weigh on sales of cheaper property. The number of houses sold by real estate agents fell to 7,315 in March from 8,128 a year earlier, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. The number of properties sold below $400,000 slumped 21 percent to 3,155, accounting for about 43.1 percent of all turnover compared to 49.7 percent a year earlier. Sales of houses between...