WELLINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - New Zealand property sales jumped in November after an election lull and as spring was under way, with some regions gaining greater interest from foreigners keen to buy before a ban is introduced early in 2018.
The number of properties sold in November nationwide jumped 17.8 percent from the previous month, the largest October to November increase in six years, or 4.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Annual house prices rose 4.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis across the country but slipped 1.2 percent on the year in Auckland, the largest city.
The government has said a ban on foreign purchases of existing homes is due to come in early in 2018 as it tries to crack down on foreign speculators targeting what it calls a "housing crisis" inherited from the previous government.
"November traditionally sees a robust increase, although the change in November compared to last month was stronger than we would have expected based on past data," Bindi Norwell, chief executive of REINZ, said.
Norwell said the new ban boosted interest in property from overseas investors in the Northland region.
"We've also seen some of our European and U.S buyers accelerate their purchases ahead of the upcoming foreign buyer ban, as they were concerned about the impact on their ability to purchase property here."
House prices have risen more than 50 percent nationally in the last decade, but the market has been cooling as the economy slows and due to home loan restrictions.
The central bank said in November it would undertake a "modest easing" of loan-to-value ratio restrictions from January.
