Investors boost small home prices

The website said the average asking price of homes with one or two bedrooms had increased 1.4% over the past 12 months, to $397,450.

“Units are popular with investors – they’re cheaper than a lot of housing options but they’re still popular with renters and they sell well,” head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said. “We’ve seen a jump in every major city except Christchurch.”

Average asking prices for a unit in Auckland set a new record in June, up 17.5% to $589,000. Units in Auckland broke the $500,000 mark a year ago, and since then these properties have jumped $87,000.

The average asking price for a unit in Wellington is now $300,000, a jump of $48,000 in the past year. In the hot Bay of Plenty market, units reached a new record of $370,400 in June and up 27% year-on-year.

But the data showed some indication that the heat was coming out of the market.

While the asking price across all the properties on the site hit a record $590,850 in June, the rate of increase was slowing.

“Since June last year the average asking price has increased by over $46,000. In a normal market that’s a fantastic level of growth but in New Zealand that’s an easing, for example back in September we saw a 12-month jump of over $80,000. We’ll be watching it closely, but this is a sign that the foot may be coming off the accelerator,” Jeffries said.

The change was most noticeable in Auckland, where prices were up 0.7% on May to a new high of $848,100.

“Auckland’s asking prices are up almost $75,000 on this time last year – but that is significantly down on where things were at in August 2015 where the average asking price leapt $130,000 in a year. For now it looks like the incredible surges we’ve seen in Auckland may be slowing down. That’s not to say the market is stalling, but we’re seeing the market take a bit of a breather after sprinting ahead for months.”

The last five years have seen phenomenal growth across Auckland with prices jumping nearly 70% since 2011. “The average asking prices for an Auckland house has jumped $349,000 in five years. To put that in perspective, you could have bought a three- or four-bedroom house in the Manawatu or Southland or even a one- or two-bedroom house in Christchurch for that sort of money.”

While Auckland was easing in June, the regions immediately surrounding the City of Sails continued to power on. The average asking price in the Waikato hit $435,000 in June, up $78,000 on a year ago. In the Bay of Plenty, the average asking price is up $88,400 in the past year to another record of $543,800. And in Northland the average asking price rose 14% to $445,500, up $54,700 over the past year.

Twelve regions reported increases in average asking prices, with three reported a decrease. Jeffries said there was strong growth outside the Auckland halo.

“In Otago the average asking price went up $87,000 over the past year – an increase of more than 23% and taking it all the way up to just under $460,000. And in the Hawke’s Bay we saw a 17% increase over the past year, taking the average asking price up to more than $429,000.”

Gisborne (down 0.7%), Marlborough (down 2.3%) and Taranaki (down 2.4%) showed dips in average asking prices compared to last year.