Price rises ease: QV

It has released its latest residential price movement index, which shows prices nationwide were up 7.6% last month compared to the same time the year before and 2.3% over the past three months.

The annual rate of increase reached 10% in December but has been slowing since.

Auckland prices were up 11.7% year-on-year, QV said.

National spokeswoman Andrea Rush said there were signs that price increases were easing, following a drop in turnover.

“The Auckland region as a whole has seen values rise over the past three months but some areas of the super city are now showing a slight decline in values.”

Central Auckland had a 1.2% decrease in prices over the past three months, Auckland City East was down 1.3% and North Shore/North Harbour was down 0.9%.

Valuer Bruce Wiggins said: “This is the first ‘normal’ winter the Auckland property market has seen in a few years, where we are seeing reduced house sales and fewer attendees at open homes. Some properties are sitting around for several weeks with no offers, or below expectation offers, which could be due to a disconnect between buyer and seller expectations, especially where the property requires some form of maintenance or upgrading.”

He said valuers had been busy with people wanting to fix home loans in the face of rising interest rates.

Rush said prices in Christchurch were still rising and those in Tauranga and Dunedin had increased slightly. But Hamilton’s prices were down slightly and Wellington’s were showing a downward trend.

“Sales volumes are between 15% and 25% lower than they were this time in 2012 and 2013 in most places around the country,” Rush said. “This slowdown is most likely due to the LVR speed limits and interest rate rises as well as the annual winter seasonal downturn. However, the Reserve Bank has now said it will take a break in rate rises for the moment and banks are advertising that they will negotiate on lending to those with deposits of less than 20%.”

Provincial centres were mixed, with Kaipara up 2.4% over the past three months and Kaikoura up 4%.