Residential property increases 9.4%

The growth rate is marginally slower than the 9.6% reported in October. The average New Zealand sale price over the period was $347,005.

“Although property values across the country are continuing to increase, the rate of growth has been easing throughout 2006,” said QV spokesperson Blue Hancock.

“However, the spring property market has seen a number of areas bounce back. Some of the early runners in the market are increasing in value at a faster rate than last month. Queenstown Lakes increased growth from 1.3% in October to 4.6% in November, Tauranga 1.6% to 3.4%, Tasman 8% to 9.1% and Auckland region from 7.3% to 7.6%.”

Trends across the main centres varied with Auckland City up to 7.2% and Dunedin up to 4.6%. Wellington remained consistent at 9.8% while Christchurch eased to 9% and Hamilton to 8.7%.

The trends in provincial cities were similar to the main urban areas with some cities showing slight increases while others continued to slow.

Main urban areas commentary:
Auckland:
Property values across the Auckland region increased by 7.6% (calculated over the three months ending November 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), up from 7.3% reported for the period ending October. The average sale price across Auckland was $446,609.

“Property prices across the wider Auckland region have continued their steady path of recent months, with the growth rates among various cities and districts moving slightly from what we reported last month,” said Glenda Whitehead of QV Valuations. “Rodney has shown the largest increase in the region, with growth now back to the levels reported in February and March of this year (9.4% annual growth). Auckland City also showed a further increase to 7.2% while North Shore has been relatively static at 5.9%, although with strong buyer interest. Waitakere’s growth is also stable at 6.8%.”

“Franklin has showed the biggest slowdown in property growth from 7% last month to 5.4%. However, valuers working in the southern Auckland areas report lots of activity at the lower end of the market,” said Whitehead.

Hamilton:
Hamilton’s property values grew by 8.7% (calculated over the three months ending November 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), down from 9.9% as reported in October. The average sale price for Hamilton City was $320,215.

“Demand for residential property and the rate of growth in property values continued to ease across all parts of Hamilton in November. This is the twelfth consecutive month that has showed a decrease in the growth rate for Hamilton City,” said Richard Allen of QV Valuations.

“Although sales activity and growth have eased quite substantially, the average sale price in Hamilton continued to hover around $320,000,” said Allen.

Wellington:
Wellington City’s residential property values increased by 9.8% over the past year (calculated over the three months ending November 2006 in comparison to the same period last year). This is the same growth rate reported in October. The average sale price in Wellington City was $463,453.

“Other areas across the Wellington region are on the rise, with Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt growing at 16.5%, and all areas showing strong price increases,” said Max Meyers of QV Valuations. “The region’s property price increases are still buoyant with the city and southern suburbs having the lowest reported increases, but still at a very healthy 7.6% over the past year. Outlook is for an active market during summer with price increases persisting in most areas”.

Christchurch:
Residential properties in Christchurch increased in value by 9% (calculated over the three months ending November 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), down from the 9.5% experienced in October. The city’s average sale price was $328,873.

“While the growth has slowed, it has been gradual and reflective of a soft landing for the property market. The average sale price has been hovering around $320,000 to $330,000 for the past nine months, which indicates a steady market,” said Mark Dow of QV Valuations.

Dunedin:
Dunedin residential property values increased by 4.6% (calculated over the three months ending November 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), up from 4.1% last month. The average sale price in Dunedin was $261,799.

“We now have a situation where the supply of housing stocks on the market is more in tune with the demand from buyers. Vendors are becoming more realistic with asking prices and buyers are not forced into making unreasonably high offers to beat off the competition,” said David Paterson of QV Valuations.

“Indications are that there is still reasonable demand in the $200,000-$300,000 price range, but not so strong for the market over $500,000. QV’s latest statistics show that 75% of residential sales fall within the $100,000 to $300,000 range,” said Paterson.

Tauranga:
Tauranga property values have grown by 3.4% over the past year (calculated over the three months ending November 2006 in comparison to the same period last year), up from 1.6% reported in October. The city’s average sale price was $405,638.

“The spring property market has seen an increase in the number of properties selling, however sales numbers are still significantly lower than the same period last year,” said Christopher Boyd of QV Valuations. “However, it’s encouraging to see Tauranga property values increasing at a higher rate over the last two months, reversing the trend of the eight months prior to October, where the rate of increase in property values had been easing. The average sale price increased to $405,638, which is another new high for the Tauranga property market.”