Property Values Ease Further In New Zealand

The average sale price of a house in New Zealand was $378,399 (£149,920) in March. Over the calander year, there has been a 9.3 percent drop in property values.

Commenting on falling house prices in New Zealand, Quotable Value’s spokesperson Blue Hancock said:

“Our analysis shows that property values have dropped 9.3% over the last year, worse than last month. However, this further decline is being driven by falls across the Auckland region, particularly in Auckland City and Manukau. Many other areas of the country are beginning to see property values flattening, particularly in provincial cities and across parts of the Wellington area”

House Prices in New Zealand
Three Months Ending March 2009

Location	Average House Price (NZ$)	Comments
Auckland Region	$495,892 (£196,471)	Property values in the Auckland region fell by 10.1% over the past year. Like last month,there are reports of strong activity at open homes. There are also multi-offers on quality property, and competitive bidding at particular auctions. This is all positive news after a long period of negativity. But winter will be telling; if listings are low, it could make for another slow season.
Hamilton	$338,433 (£134,086)	Hamilton’s property values decreased by 9.3% over the past year a slight improvement on the 10.1 % fall last month. There has been an easing in the downward trend in the year-on-year statistic for Hamilton City. Although the city experienced this slight improvement, the Central City/North West Hamilton areas continued to decline with values decreasing further from -10.8% in February to -10.9 % in March
Wellington Region	$429,848 (£170,308)	Wellington’s property values decreased by 8.7% over the past year. It is certainly still a buyers market with a price recovery not in sight at this stage. The increase in activity is typical of this time of year so we will have to wait and see what happens to sales volumes in the next few months. Fundamentally, job-security is still a big issue for many New Zealanders, so prices will have to remain subdued until general uncertainty in the wider economy abates
Christchurch	$349,442 (£138,448)	Property values in Christchurch decreased by 9.7% over the past year. Property values since November 2008 continue to decline.The Central and Northern suburbs are holding as the strongest areas of Christchurch City, with the Eastern suburbs mirroring the Canterbury market. The Hill suburbs have decreased from -8.1% in February 2009 to -9.9% in March 2009. The upper end of the market seems to be experiencing less activity compared to the middle and lower sections.
Dunedin	$258,297 (£102,336)	Dunedin’s residential property values decreased 8.8% over the past year. In previous months we have seen values in parts of the city declining at a faster rate than other areas. The year-on-year change this month is more evenly spread across all areas of the city.
Tauranga	$436,012 (£172,746)	Property values in Tauranga decreased by 8.4% over the past year. Vendors who have sat for months with little or no buyer interest have seized the opportunity that this more buoyant period presented and have met the market. While this activity surge is good news for property values, it has not yet stopped their gradual slide.

* Assumed exchange rate is £1 = NZ$2.524
** 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.