The average price of homes sold by the country's largest real estate agency dropped by just over $20,000 last month, with the average price dropping almost $60,000 in Auckland.

The average price of all the home sold by Harcourts in August was $557,462, down from $577,595 in July and barely above the average price of $550,573 in August last year.

The decline appears to be mainly driven by falling prices in Auckland and Wellington.

In Auckland, Harcourts' average price dropped well below the million dollar mark to be below where it was a year ago, falling from $1,009,090 in July to $940,569 in August, which was also down from the August 2016 average price of $965,836.

In the Wellington region the average price dropped from $457,354 in July to $420,915 in August, although that was still up 5% compared to August last year.

In Harcourts Central North Island District, which includes the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, Harcourts' average price fell slightly, dropping from $476,187 in July to $471,616 in August.

Prices in the South Island went against the trend, with the average price in Christchurch rising from $488,079 in July to $524,159 in August and in the rest of the South Island it rose from $381,327 in July to $398, 256 in August.

However while average prices were falling in most parts of the country, the number of homes Harcourts sold was up.

The agency sold 1812 homes throughout the country in August compared to 1627 in July but still down 11.4% on the 2046 it sold in August last year.

That trend was reflected in the number of sales in all regions except Wellington, where sales were flat in August compared to July but still down almost 6% compared to August last year.

Harcourts chief executive Chris Kennedy said new listings in August were down 21% compared to a year ago.

"This is to be expected in the month leading up to an election, with listings generally down by around 20% before an election," he said.

"However it is also undeniable that there has been a general slowing in the housing market across New Zealand,and particularly in Auckland, due to Reserve Bank restrictions and a sharp decline in the number of foreign buyers."