Property prices drive consumer confidence in Auckland
Property prices drive consumer confidence in Auckland
Jan. 17 (BusinessDesk) - The hot property market is making consumers more confident in Auckland and they expect house prices to rise more in the next two years.
That is according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan NZ consumer confidence survey for January, which otherwise shows a mixed picture nationally.
The national headline consumer
confidence index firmed to 118.3 in January from 114.7 in
December but when seasonally adjusted eased to 112 from
115.
In Auckland, the index rose six points to a 2.5 year
high.
"You will need to look no further than the sharp lift in the property prices for the reason of renewed enthusiasm in Auckland, though we note house price expectations in New Zealand's largest city were unchanged" Cameron Bagrie, chief economist at ANZ, said.
Still, house price expectations are the highest in Auckland, with a 4.4 percent lift in prices expected in the next two years.
Confidence levels in Wellington and Canterbury were
weaker in January.
Nationally the future conditions index
was unchanged at 119 and the current conditions index lifted
eight points to 117. The current conditions index in
Auckland was at a five-year high.
A net 38 percent of respondents believed it was a good time to buy a major household item, the highest reading since 2007.
(BusinessDesk)