New Zealand home values rise at fastest rate in eight years

New Zealand home values rise at fastest rate in eight years

The latest monthly QV House Price Index shows that nationwide residential property values for August have increased 11.3% over the past year. Values rose 3.9% over the past three months and are now 29.0% above the previous market peak of late 2007. When adjusted for inflation the nationwide annual increase drops slightly to 11.0% and values are now 10.2% above the 2007 peak.

The Auckland market has increased 20.4% year on year, 5.6% over the past three months and 60.1% since 2007. When adjusted for inflation values are 20.1% over the past year and are 36.7% above the 2007 peak.

QV National Spokesperson Andrea Rush said, “Values in Auckland continue to rise rapidly at the fastest rate since mid-2004 with the market there continuing to be driven by high net migration and lack of supply.

“The upward trend in values seen in upper north island centres near Auckland is also continuing with the Hamilton market now accelerating and values in Tauranga, Whangarei, Hastings, and the Hauraki District continuing to rise.”

“The Wellington and Christchurch markets remain relatively flat while the Dunedin market is showing a steady rise in values.”
“High prices and lower yields in the Auckland market appear to be encouraging investors to look to regional centres around the country for investment properties.”

“The new rules set to come in over the next couple of months requiring a 30% deposit for investment property in the Auckland region and a softening of the LVR for the regions may also be a factor incentivising this activity.”

“More listings are coming onto the market with the coming of spring but with sales numbers up by 25% compared to this time last year stock levels remain tight in many places.”

“While recent events on the global economic landscape, such as China’s stock market dropping dramatically, have impacted on business and consumer confidence in New Zealand, there is no sign that they have impacted on the housing market at this stage.”

Auckland

The Super City Region has continues to show rapid increases in value and sales volumes are also well above what they were this time last year. Activity is particularly high at the lower end of the market for properties under $1 million.

Auckland City values rose a significant 4.1% over the past three months and 20.4% year on year. The Auckland City - South suburbs including Blockhouse Bay, One Tree Hill, Sandringham, Mt Albert, Wesley, Three Kings, Mt Roskill, Otahuhu, Onehunga, Mt Wellington saw the largest value increases in the former Auckland City Council area, up 5.0% since May and 23.5% year on year and values there are now a huge 75.7% higher than they were in the previous peak of 2007.
Waitakere City home values continue to surge ahead as buyers realise how relatively affordable homes there are compared to some other parts of the city. Values increased a massive 7.1% since May and they are 23.9% higher than a year ago. The average value out west has now surpassed $700,000 and is sitting at $703,242.

Manukau City values are up 7.1% over the past three months and 22.0% year on year. Manukau-Central suburbs including Otara, Redoubt Road precinct, Manurewa, Hill Park, The Gardens, Weymouth, Wattle Downs, East Tamaki and Wiri saw the most rapid increases, up a whopping 9.8% over the past three months and 24.6% year on year. The average value there is now $575,372.
Values in the Papakura District also continued to steam ahead up 8.0% over the past three months and 25.5% year on year. While the Franklin District also continued to rise quickly up 6.6% over the past three months and 16.6% year on year. The Rodney District to the north was also up 9.7% year on year and 4.2% over the past three months.

“QV homevalue Operations Manager Northern, Jan O’Donoghue said, “There continues to be a shortage of listings on the market and while we are already seeing more homes coming onto the market with the coming of spring, these are selling quickly.”
“There is continued evidence of high levels of speculation in the Auckland market and we are seeing more examples of price taking where the same properties are selling two or three times in a one year period.”

“QV stats show more than 2000 homes have been brought and sold more than once over the past 12 months. Often nothing has been done to improve these properties at all and speculators are just on selling it and taking the capital gain.”
“Rapid on selling can be a sign that some speculators may believe we are close to reaching the top of the market and decide they have made enough profit.”

Hamilton

The average home value across the Hamilton City is has now ticked over the $400,000 mark and is now $400,811. Values are up there 10.3% year on year and 5.7% over the past three months alone.

QV homevalue Hamilton Registered Valuer, Chris Price said, “The Hamilton housing market continues to show good activity and demand.”

“Residential properties offering an additional income stream such as a house and minor dwelling, home and basement flat or multiple units are proving very popular and the shortage of rentals means owners will have no problem finding tenants for such properties.”

“Greenfield subdivisions are also in high demand and we are seeing large numbers of pre-sales, especially to builders and developers.”

“Local builders have strong demand for new residential housing with a lot of this now selling pre or during construction rather than the builder taking the finished product to the market.”

“In the regions, the Huntly market has really picked up over the last two months with multiple offers on tidy, well presented properties now happening more often”

“It’s also becoming common place in the town for owners to be made offers on their properties when they are not even listed for sale.”

“The Paeroa market has also picked up over the last couple of months with investors from out of town becoming very active.”

“This has resulted in a shortage of listings and some increases in value are now being seen there too.”

Tauranga

Residential property values in Tauranga City 8.6% year on year and 2.6% over the past three months. While values in the Western Bay of Plenty have also risen by 7.2% since last year and 4.0% since

QV homevalue Tauranga Registered Valuer David Hume said, “The Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty housing market is still seeing strong demand and very high numbers of sales.”

“There is interest across all value ranges in the market with the exception of the $1.5 million plus price bracket. However we are now starting to see signs of increased interest in this upper level of the market now too.”

“We are also getting reports of an increase in the number of property appraisals being done as spring approaches as more property owners become aware of recent increases in property values and are keen to get an idea of what their homes are now worth.”

“This should lead to an increased number of listings in spring and could help to give purchasers a greater variety of listings to choose from.”

“With many properties selling by auction it is currently quite hard for purchasers to get an accurate gauge of what a property may be worth in the rising market.”

Wellington

Home values in the Wellington City increased by 2.4% year on year and 0.3% over the past three months and the average value is now $546,914.

Values on the Kapiti Coast increased 2.6% year on year while, Lower Hutt values were also up 1.3% and Porirua values rose 2.1% over the same period. While values in Upper Hutt were down slightly by 0.2% year on year.

QV homevalue Wellington Registered Valuer, Pieter Geill said, “We are seeing a lot of demand for homes under $450,000 in areas like Porirua, Johnsonville and the Hutt Valley where you can still buy homes at this price level.”

“As you can’t purchase in Wellington City for under $450,000 demand for homes at the entry level end of the market is high there too, and we are also seeing steady demand and good activity across all other price levels of the market too.”

“There has been a noticeable increase in demand for Wellington investment property from Auckland buyers as well as locals and a recent report of up to 90 people at a recent open home of a property converted into three flats in a central city suburb.”

“First home buyers remain active in the market and there are still very affordable first homes available in places like Upper Hutt, Wainuiomata and Stokes Valley where you can still purchase three bedroom homes for under $300,000 in some suburbs.”

“We have more and more clients getting ready for spring and looking to list their properties so we can expect to see listing numbers increasing as the weather gets warmer but currently stock levels remain low.”

Christchurch and Dunedin

Home values in Christchurch City increased 3.1% year on year but were relatively flat over the past three months rising just 0.4% since May.

QV Christchurch Registered Valuer Daryl Taggart said, “The market in Christchurch is showing steady demand and activity.”

“The market appears to be quite flat in Selwyn and Waimakariri Districts, with little value growth over the last six to 12 months.”

“We are also seeing a gradual slowdown in the number of new builds and new subdivisions across the city.”

“Rents have also come down a bit as supply of housing in the city is now meeting demand and they are now at more normal levels rather than the inflated rents seen after the earthquakes.”

“There does not appear to be a lot of sales activity in the surrounding districts and the markets in many of the regional towns have been quite flat over the winter months.”

Values in Dunedin continued to rise steadily up 2.1% over the past three months and 3.7% year on year. The average value in the city now $299,508 making it one of the most affordable main centres to buy a house in the country.

QV homevalue Dunedin Registered Valuer Duncan Jack said, “Sale numbers and listings remain at low levels however buyer interest appears to be increasing as spring approaches.”
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that open homes are being well attended – particularly the low to mid value properties. Multi offer scenarios are also being reported in many cases – again mainly the low to mid value properties.”

“Although lacking the buoyancy of markets like Central Otago and Queenstown the overall outlook in Dunedin is positive at present and value levels are slowly and steadily increasing.”

Provincial centres

In the North Island values in areas to the south and north of Auckland continue an upward trend including values in the Far North District which rose 6.1% year on year; as did the Whangarei District up 4.6%; and the Kaipara District up 9.9%. Meanwhile some central and lower North Island centres including Masterton, Central Hawkes Bay and the Ruapehu District were continuing to showing decreases in values of between 2 and 6% year on year.

In the South Island, most places showed moderate value increases, while some were flat and only a few places saw values decrease. The Queenstown Lakes District showed the largest increase with values up 9.5% year on year and the average home value there is now $731,093 which is higher than anywhere in the country apart from the Auckland region. The Buller District is still showing the largest decrease with values down 7.6% year on year.

The full set of QV House Price Index statistics for all New Zealand for August can be downloaded by clicking this link: QV House Price Index for August 2015.

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