House prices up again but pace is slower says QV

The property valuation firm says that the pace of house price growth is the slowest since March 2015

House prices up again but pace is slower says QV

The property valuation firm QV says that the pace of house price growth is the slowest since March 2015.

New Zealand’s home values have increased 8.1% in the year to June with a 1.2% gain in the past three months.

It means the national average price rose to $639,051 which is more than 54% above the previous peak of 2007. Adjusted for inflation the increase is 5.9% and almost 29% above the 2007 peak.

Auckland’s residential property gained at a slower pace than the national average at 7.2%, the slowest pace since September 2012. The city has seen no growth in the past three months.

However, the flatness of appreciation in the last quarter still means that the average price in Auckland of $1,045,059 is 91.2% higher than the 2007 peak. Adjusted for inflation the growth in the city is 4.9% and prices are 59.6% above the 2007 peak.

“There has been a drop in the level of activity in the Auckland market and sales volumes are down by 30% on the same time last year and we are now seeing an easing back on sale prices at most levels,” said QV Auckland homevalue Manager, James Steele.

“A key characteristic of the market is that it is more difficult than it has been to obtain finance. Lenders are asking a lot more questions than they used to, and are taking longer to process loans and get approvals back to customers,” he added.

QV’s national spokesperson Andrea Rush said that regional disparity remains with values rising again in Hamilton and Tauranga after decreasing earlier in the year.

“A slow-down in value growth in the Wellington market is now more evident in the QV House Price Index data and Porirua a previous hot spot has seen values decrease over the past quarter,” she said.

Christchurch is also flat with some areas seeing a slight decrease over the past quarter, while Dunedin remains relatively buoyant with values rising.