Deutsche Bank believes the underlying growth in house prices is all but over following the latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) showing a fall in median prices.
Sunday, September 19th 2004, 8:32AM
by The Landlord
The Real Estate Institute says slowing demand for high-end housing pushed the national median house price down 1% in August, although sales volumes rebounded slightly.
Deutsche Bank chief economist Ulf Schoefisch says smoothing out the ups and downs in figures shows a declining trend in turnover of around 2% and a slight rise in the time taken to sell a house.
He believes house prices will stabilise in some areas but fall in places like Nelson and Queenstown, where prices have risen dramatically over the past three years.
Last week the Reserve Bank raised the official cash rate (OCR), which affects home mortgage rates, for the sixth time this year and is expected to do so again before the year is over.
New Zealand now has the highest interest rates of any developed country.
