Auckland property market pushes up national values, QV says

Auckland property market pushes up nationwide values, QV says

By Paul McBeth

July 11 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand property values crept up last month as a resurgent Auckland market bumped up nationwide figures which were otherwise flat or negative.

National property values were 0.9% below June 2010, compared to a deficit of 1.6% in the rolling valuation for May, according to government valuer Quotable Value Ltd. That’s just 5.2% below the market peak in last 2007.

The improvement was largely off the back of a 1.4% gain in Auckland property values compared to the same month a year ago, offsetting Wellington’s decline and Dunedin’s flat result. Christchurch values were still excluded given the uncertainty since the region’s earthquakes.

“Apart from a minor hiccup in March, values have increased by over 2% in greater Auckland since January,” research director Jonno Ingerson said in a statement. “Nationwide property values increased in June after previously remaining relatively stable for several months.”

Last week, Auckland’s biggest real estate agent Barfoot & Thompson said its listing numbers were near a four-year low at just 5,067 at the end of June, and the average sale price in the city slipped 1.6% that month.

Still, QV’s Glenda Whitehead, a valuer in Auckland, said shortage of listings and sales was typical for winter, and will probably remain for the next few months.

Wellington was the only main centre to register a decline in property for the past few months. Values were 3.3% below the same month a year earlier, QV’s Ingerson said.

“Uncertainty around restructuring in the public sector may be causing some home owners to take a more conservative approach to the property market,” he said.

Compared to June last year, Hamilton values were 3.6% softer, and Tauranga values were down 1.8%, and Dunedin property values were 3.5% below the 2010 level. Those values were all flat compared to the prior month.

(BusinessDesk)

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