New Zealand Property Values Heading Upwards

The average sale price of a house in New Zealand was $385,426 (£163,872) in August, an increase from $382,758 in July. Over the calander year, there has been a 2.8 percent drop in property values, a marked improvement on the 5.0% annualised fall last month. The fall in sterling against the New Zealand dollar in recent months has also increased the cost of buying a NZ home for prospective British migrants.

Commenting on house prices in New Zealand, Quotable Value’s spokesperson Glenda Whitehead said: “The increase is typical for this time of the year as the number of listings and sales begin to pick up heading towards spring. Balmy temperatures no doubt also helped. The housing market is strongly driven by confidence, and that appears to be returning to the wider market. In most areas there are now many buyers actively searching for properties. However, a general shortage of listings is leading to increased competition amongst buyers and is resulting in quality properties selling quickly and prices being pushed up. This is in stark contrast to last year when there were plenty of properties on the market but few buyers. For many vendors, the urgency to sell has eased. Rather than feeling the need to accept a very low offer, many can now afford to hold out for the next buyer and a more realistic price. For other property owners the financial pressures are too much and we continue to see properties under mortgagee sale coming to the market.”

House Prices in New Zealand
Three Months Ending August 2009

Location	Average House Price (NZ$)	Comments
Auckland Region	$502,022 (£213,445)	Property values in the Auckland region fell by 1.5% over the past year. August is still firmly a winter month, but buyers in some areas seem to have taken to the streets in droves, while the potential sellers are still preparing their properties in anticipation waiting for the real spring. This appears to be causing a supply and demand imbalance in the middle and mid-upper price brackets for some suburbs including Grey Lynn, Mt Eden, Epsom, Remuera, Pakuranga, and older parts of Howick, Te Atatu North and South, and the more desirable parts of Henderson and Titirangi.
Hamilton	$339,298 (£144,259)	Hamilton’s property values decreased by just 0.1% over the past year a significant improvement on the 2.9% fall last month. All four areas in the city experienced healthy increases and it is further evidence that the City’s residential market has stabilised for the time being.
Wellington Region	$431,614 (£183,509)	Wellington’s property values decreased by 1.4% over the past year. The wider Wellington residential property market has experienced value growth for the fourth consecutive month. There are good attendances at open homes, good results at tenders, multiple offer situations and shortened sale periods.
Christchurch	$344,401 (£146,248)	Property values in Christchurch decreased by 1.9% over the past year. Urban Christchurch has held well, with all suburbs showing an improvement year-on-year. The market is showing clear segmentation with the level of activity strongest in the under $350,000 market, closely followed by the $350,000 to $500,000 price range.
Dunedin	$254,619 (£108,256)	Dunedin’s residential property values increased 0.4% over the past year. Dunedin has moved to positive annual value growth for the first time since March 2008. There appears to be plenty of buyers which would indicate we have more of a sellers market and this may well be one of the reasons why we have seen an upward trend in values.
Tauranga	$412,320 (£175,306)	Property values in Tauranga decreased by 4.1% over the past year. Residential property values in Tauranga have been relatively stable over the past five months. The bulk of activity is still occurring in the under $350,000 bracket which is having the affect of subduing the average sale price

* Assumed exchange rate is £1 = NZ$2.352
** New Zealand’s average house prices are not directly comparable with the UK’s because, unlike the UK, the average home in New Zealand is a detached bungalow.