Property

Growth stalling, says property indicator

Growth in the property market is petering off, with the Mike Pero Mortgages/Infometrics Property Cycle Indicator (PCI) falling to its lowest level in 18 months.

Thursday, March 18th 2010

The PCI, a sensitive measure of the housing market and ranging from negative 10 to positive 10, fell to a positive 3.97 in February, from 5.22 in January.

"The PCI was still positive in February, but it was at its lowest value since June 2008, which shows a definite easing off in the housing market," says Mike Pero Mortgages chief Shaun Riley.

The three main factors the indicator takes into account are changes in the number of houses sold, changes in price and the time taken for a house to sell.

Sales volumes fell 3.4% in February from January, seasonally adjusted, and the median house price, although unchanged from the previous month at $350,000, remains 2.8% below its December 2009 peak.

The average number of days taken to sell a house in February was up from January, to 46 in February.

"Although this result was 16 days faster than in February last year, it is the highest seasonally adjusted level since June 2009," Riley says.

The Central Otago Lakes region was the only region in the country where the housing market gained momentum, according to the PCI, which was up from 0.30 in January to 0.52 in February.

Auckland dropped off, with a PCI of 5.81 in February, down from 7.87 in January. Wellington also lost ground with a PCI of 4.47 (from 7.09).

Southland's PCI slipped slightly to 1.17 in February, from 2.20 in January, while Canterbury/Westland's PCI was 0.36, a decrease from 2.71 a month earlier. Nelson/Marlborough was down to 0.59 from 2.30 and Otago also lost ground with a PCI of 0.12, down from 2.65.

Mike Pero Mortgages also says rents were 4.1% higher than a year earlier, the sharpest annual increase since September 2008.

Heartland Bank - Online 6.69
SBS FirstHome Combo 6.74
Wairarapa Building Society 6.95
Unity 6.99
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 7.04
ICBC 7.05
China Construction Bank 7.09
BNZ - Classic 7.24
ASB Bank 7.24
ANZ Special 7.24
TSB Special 7.24
Unity First Home Buyer special 6.45
Heartland Bank - Online 6.45
China Construction Bank 6.75
TSB Special 6.75
ICBC 6.75
ANZ Special 6.79
ASB Bank 6.79
AIA - Go Home Loans 6.79
Kiwibank Special 6.79
BNZ - Classic 6.79
Unity 6.79
Westpac Special 6.39
China Construction Bank 6.40
ICBC 6.49
SBS Bank Special 6.55
Kiwibank Special 6.55
BNZ - Classic 6.55
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 6.55
ASB Bank 6.55
AIA - Go Home Loans 6.55
TSB Special 6.59
Kainga Ora 6.99
SBS FirstHome Combo 6.19
AIA - Back My Build 6.19
ANZ Blueprint to Build 7.39
Credit Union Auckland 7.70
ICBC 7.85
Heartland Bank - Online 7.99
Pepper Money Essential 8.29
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 8.40
Co-operative Bank - Standard 8.40
First Credit Union Standard 8.50
Kiwibank 8.50

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