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Housing in Auckland - Source: ONE News -
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Property values have continued to increase according to the QV residential property indices for September released on Monday.
Nationally, values are now only 1.1% below the same time last year, up further from the -2.8% reported last month.
Nationwide values are now 2.7% up from their low in April, but remain 7.1% below the market peak of late 2007.
The average sale price across New Zealand also increased further to $387,567 in September from $385,426 in August, with QV saying there was an increase in the number of sales and listings in many areas.
"This increase in activity is normal for spring but there is still a feeling that activity levels are below normal, with somewhat fewer listings to date this spring than was expected" said QV valuation manager Glenda Whitehead.
Whitehead says there is strong competition among buyers in some places and price brackets for the limited properties available which is pushing up many sale prices.
"With prices in some localities rising, this will likely encourage more sellers to put their properties on the market as their price expectations come closer to being met" said Whitehead.
Market activity remains concentrated towards the lower end of the market though compared with September last there is more activity across most price bands.
However, Whitehead says there is no consistent national trend as to whether prices are going up or down within each value band.
Outlook
The results of the latest quarterly QV Housing Survey show that consumer confidence has improved, but a degree of uncertainty remains. Most people surveyed now expect prices to increase over the next year - a dramatic reversal of last quarter's survey results.
Fewer respondents listed job security and financial pressures as factors influencing whether they would buy or sell.
The survey also showed that while the same number of people are considering buying or selling within the next year, a greater proportion are now considering selling within the next six months.
Despite these positive results, comments from respondents reflect mixed opinions about the prospect for the overall economy in the medium term.
Increasing values in recent months mean that most of the main centres now have values above the same time last year. In the Auckland Area values are now 0.6% above last year, the Wellington Area is 1.1% up, Christchurch 0.4%, and Dunedin 2.2% up. Tauranga is still 1.8% below last year but has improved rapidly over recent months.
Hamilton is the only main centre to drop back slightly and is now 0.9% below last year.
Values in most of the provincial centres have not risen as much in recent months as the main centres. As a result most are still showing values below the same time last year.
Whangarei is -4.2% compared to last year, Wanganui -2.5%, Nelson -0.5% and Invercargill -2.0%. New Plymouth at 2.9% and Palmerston North at 1.1% are exceptions, with both having values above the same time last year.
In contrast to most of the rest of the country, continuing value
declines in recent months have led to Rotorua at -3.7%, Gisborne at
-9.0% and Queenstown Lakes at -6.3%, all still being below last
year.
