NZ property values rise at fastest pace in more than a year in June on Auckland demand

Thursday 2nd July 2015

New Zealand property values rose at the fastest pace in more than a year in June, as a shortage of homes in Auckland prompted house hunters to cast their net wider to surrounding areas.

National property values rose 9.3 percent in the 12 months through June to an average of $520,585, matching the pace in February last year. Values in the Auckland region surged 17 percent to an average of $840,165, the fastest pace since 2004, according to state owned agency Quotable Value.

House values in Auckland city jumped 18 percent in the year through June, the fastest pace in more than a decade and pushing the average value over $1 million for the first time, as housing supply fails to keep up with demand from record migration. That's prompting house hunters to spread their net wider, pushing up values in surrounding areas, the agency said.

"Large numbers of Aucklanders are flocking to buy property in Tauranga, Hamilton and the Western Bay of Plenty, resulting in rising values in these areas," QV national spokeswoman Andrea Rush said. "There are reports that of those present at open homes in Tauranga, as many as 60 percent are regularly from Auckland, while around 15 percent of all buyers in the Hamilton market are now from Auckland."

Values in other main centres rose at a slower, steady rate, she said.

Property values in Wellington increased at an annual pace of 2 percent to an average of $546,577, while Christchurch gained 3.2 percent to an average of $474,269 and Dunedin advanced 2.6 percent to an average of $269,048.

Sales volumes were ahead of the same period last year, with high migration and forecasts for lower interest rates increasing levels of activity in the housing market in many parts of the country, Rush said. Some buyers may be bringing forward purchases ahead of the stricter lending and tax changes coming into effect in October, she said.

Values in provincial areas were mixed during the period, whit some increasing, others flat and some showing a decline, she said.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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