From the Timaru Herald
18 Dec

Christmas may have come early for many Timaruvians selling their house as the number of houses sold in Timaru continues to rise.

The latest sales figures issued by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand showed 88 homes sold in Timaru during November. The second highest number of homes sold in November, falling short of the 112 homes sold in May.

The average sale price remained the same as last month at $205,000 with houses taking an average 25 days to sell.

The number of properties sold in other South Canterbury towns fell slightly from 49 for the past two months to 46. The average sale price also dropped from $180,000, in October to $176,750 but houses were still selling for more than at the start of the year. South Canterbury homes were taking longer to sell with an average 68 days on the market.