Residential sales fell below 4,000 to 3,903 for the first October since the data was first compiled 18 years ago.

October sales of 3,903 was the the first time residential property transactions dropped below 4,000 for any month since the record low 3,666 sales in January this year.  That compared with 4,323 sales in September and 4,287 in August.

Sales turnover was reportedly down 36 percent from a year ago, and only a touch above the low point reached at the end of 2008.

The REINZ figures put the national median number of days to sell at 41 in October, down from 43 in September and August but still 10 days longer than the 31 days recorded in October 2009.

REINZ spokesman Peter Thompson is reported to have said that although the usual spring influx of listings had been late this year, activity was picking up and the November figures should be better.

REINZ's housing price index was down 0.9 percent in October, with housing prices having fallen 0.8 percent in the three months to October.

The index, which is basically an average of sale prices for common groups, is also down 3.5 percent from a year earlier, and 6.5 percent below the November 2007 peak.

Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs is said to believe that the exceptionally low level of activity in the housing market, and downward pressure on prices, was indicative of the subdued state of the economy in general, but that it was unlikely that such low levels of housing activity would be sustained for long, meaning we can look forward to some improvement over the summer months, helped by demand from migrants and a continued gradual strengthening of the labour market.