Wellington and Christchurch most consistent performers

Main Urban Areas Commentary: The following is commentary from Quotable Value on what is happening to house prices in the main urban areas.

Monday, November 13th 2006, 12:00AM

by The Landlord

Auckland
Auckland City’s property values increased by 6.5% (calculated over the three months ending October 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), down from 7.2% reported for the period ending September. The average sale price in Auckland City was $516,670.

"The wider Auckland region, from Rodney to Franklin, continues to show relatively steady growth rates on a year-to-year basis. These now range from a low of 5-7% in North Shore and Auckland, Waitakere and Franklin 7%, to a high of 9-11% in Rodney and Manukau," said Glenda Whitehead of QV Valuations. "Though showing the lowest growth rates in the region, Auckland and North Shore have the highest average prices. Higher growth rates were experienced in the more affordable parts of the region."

"Whilst the winter period was slower than we have experienced for a number of years, spring has brought with it the usual uplift in activity levels. There are visibly more properties on the market with reduced turn-over times. Overall, market activity now appears to have returned to normal levels with a relative balance between buyers and sellers," Whitehead said.

Hamilton
Hamilton’s property values have shown growth of 9.9% (calculated over the three months ending October 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), down from 14.1% as reported in September. The average sale price for Hamilton City was $320,424.

"Anecdotal evidence from agents suggests that demand for residential property and growth in all parts of Hamilton continued to ease in October. This is confirmed by QV’s latest residential property statistics, which showed quite a sizeable decrease of 4.2% in the growth rate from last month for Hamilton City," according to Richard Allen of QV Valuations.

"Although growth has eased quite dramatically, the average sale price in Hamilton rebounded slightly to $320,424 after hovering around the $315,000 mark over the last few months. As we enter the early months of summer, expectations are that sales activity will pick up."

Wellington
Wellington’s property values grew by 9.8% (calculated over the three months ending October 2006 in comparison to the same period last year). This growth rate is consistent with the 10.1% reported in September. The average sale price in Wellington City was $461,575.

"The wider Wellington market has also settled into a more regular pattern, with consistent growth rates varying from 15.5% in Lower Hutt to 9.8% in Wellington City. For the period ending October 2006, the average sale price in Wellington region was $55,700 above last year," Max Meyers of QV Valuations says.

"Most properties are selling quickly with good buyer interest, particularly in the $500,000 to $800,000 price ranges, for homes that offer distinctive features. We expect prices will continue to increase but the extent will depend on location and price."

Christchurch
Residential properties in Christchurch increased in value by 9.5% (calculated over the three months ending October 2006 in comparison to the same period last year). The growth rate has been consistent over the past three months (9.4% in August and 9.6% in September). The city’s average sale price was $327,060.

“Spring has brought about the traditional increase in interest and activity. Market confidence appears to be up slightly. There is considerable interest at the lower end of the market with many of these properties transacting in relatively short time frames.”

Dunedin
Dunedin residential property values increased by 4.1% (calculated over the three months ending October 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), down from 5.3% last month. The average sale price in Dunedin was $253,724.

“The market has continued its gradual slowdown since the growth peaked in September 2005. Over this period, annual growth has reduced from 23% to just below 5%,” David Paterson of QV Valuations said. “The reasons for this change have been well documented previously; being the interest rate rises during the later part of 2005, the uncertain economic outlook, and more recently the impact of higher fuel costs, combining to reduce demand for property. The disappointing aspect is that the usual “spring flush” does not appear to have checked the slowdown”.

“Most parts of the city continued to show a slowdown in growth as has been the trend over the last few months, the exception being the Peninsular/Coastal Dunedin where there has been a slight increase from 4.5% last month to 5.2%,” Paterson said.