NZ property prices stabilise with cheaper lending

NZ property prices stabilise with cheaper lending rates: QV

By Paul McBeth

June 8 - New Zealand property values continued to stabilise in May with cheaper mortgage rates making housing more affordable and suggesting the market is recovering after its slump in 2008.

House values fell 8.1% in the 12 months ended May 31, compared to a 9.2% decline in the period through April, according to QV Valuations. That marked the first improvement in two consecutive months since September 2007. The average sale price fell to NZ$371,555 last month from NZ$372,981 in April, and is now 4.1% lower than the same time a year ago.

“The recent buoyant activity in the residential market has been fuelled by people taking advantage of lower mortgage interest rates,” said spokeswoman Glenda Whitehead. “The recent stabilisation in values indicates that the wider market is moving toward some form of equilibrium.”

Recent data releases from the Real Estate Institute, Barfoot & Thompson, and Harcourts New Zealand all noted a pick-up in the property market, while ANZ National Bank’s eight gauges of the sector predict it’s “showing signs of life.” The ANZ said the overall tone is negative as unemployment rates were still uncertain, but rising migration should stoke demand in the short-term.

QV’s Whitehead said the coming winter months were traditionally slow for the sector, and “will provide a true test whether the recent property market revival will continue.”

QV said it would be difficult to predict where property prices will go from here, but noted migration, mortgage rates and employment have been “strong drivers”.

In Auckland, property values slowed their annual decline to 7.6% in a rolling three month period ending May 31, from 9% in April, while the average sale price slipped to NZ$483,397 from NZ$486,986. Hamilton property values improved to a 7.5% decline in the three months ended in May from 8.8% the month before. The average price gained to NZ$346,274 from NZ$336,091.

Tauranga property values fell 9.4% from a 9.9% drop in the previous period, as the average sale price fell to NZ$425,621 from NZ$432,461. In Wellington, values fell 7.4% slowing from the 8.5% annual decline reported in April. The average sale price remained steady at NZ$424,411.

Christchurch property values fell 8.1% from 9.6%, with the average sale price slipping to NZ$339,695 from NZ$342,929. Dunedin property values fell 5.4% in the three months through May from a year earlier, from the 8% annual decline in the period through April. The average sale price increased to NZ$264,180 from NZ$257,160.

(BusinessWire)