Christmas a key time for the property market

Media release
11th December
Christmas a key time for the property market

The latest monthly property value index shows that nationwide residential values increased further in November. Values are up 1.9% over the past three months, 5.7% up over the past year, and 1.5% above the previous market peak of late 2007.

Jonno Ingerson, QV.co.nz Research Director said “the increase in nationwide values continues to be driven primarily by Auckland and Canterbury where demand continues to outstrip supply. Across the rest of the country values have been steady or increasing very slightly over the past six months. However in the last month or two many of these areas have begun to falter”.

“Outside Auckland and Canterbury the property market remains subdued as buyers are generally cautious, and there are few quality properties on the market for them to choose from. As has been the case for several years now, well presented properties in sought after areas will tend to sell quickly for good prices” said Jonno Ingerson.

“We are about to enter a traditionally quiet time of the year for house buying and selling with activity generally not picking up again until February. Since the 2008 market downturn this has tended to be a time of the year when people take stock and reconsider their options, leading to a change in the nature of the property market. Given that we have seen signs of a slight slowdown in values over the past month or two in many areas, even in parts of Auckland, it will be interesting to see what early 2013 brings” said Jonno Ingerson.

Auckland
Values in the wider Auckland area have continued to increase and are up 3.2% over the past three months and 9.3% over the past year.

Old Auckland City continues to have the steepest increase over the past 12 months, up 10.7%, with North Shore and Manukau close behind, up 8.8% and 8.2% respectively.

Values in the wider Auckland area are now 10% above the previous market peak in 2007, led by old Auckland City which is 13.4% above that mark.

QV Operations Manager Kerry Stewart said “Whilst there has been an increase in listings, demand continues to outstrip supply, particularly in central Auckland. Accessibility to the city is a key factor for many buyers, so the further out you go the more affordable the homes become. However, because people are considering properties in these outer suburbs, values are being driven up in many of these areas as well. ”

“Due to sellers having to buy in the same market, they are not listing their properties as readily. The upper end of the market is taking longer to sell, however well-presented houses around $600,000 are selling very quickly” said Kerry Stewart.

Hamilton and Tauranga
Values in Hamilton have slowed a little recently, although are still 2.7% above last year and 0.3% increase over the past three months.

QV Valuer Nicky Harris said “The gentle momentum that has been apparent recently seems to have eased slightly over the last couple of months. However, sales volumes and the level of enquiry from potential buyers, particularly in the inner city and more established suburbs has been healthy.”

“There is strong interest from potential buyers with auctions seeing good attendance numbers, but there is a lack of quality listings. Recently, we have also seen greater interest in renovated character homes” said Nicky Harris.

Property values in Tauranga have been up and down over the past six months, but the most recent months have started to see a decrease, leaving values down 1.2% over the last three months and 0.8% down on last year.

QV Valuer Paul Thomas said “A lot of buyers are sitting and watching the market at the moment. We are seeing many more new builds appearing, however this isn’t expected to change the current activity level.”

Wellington
Values in the Wellington area have steadied after a slight increase over the previous months but are still up 0.6% over the past three months and are now 1.7% up over the past year.

QV Valuer Pieter Geill said “November was a quiet month in Wellington with the market generally flat. Demand continues for well presented properties and we have also seen an improvement in the rural and lifestyle property markets recently.”

Christchurch
Christchurch values continue to rise with the past 12 months seeing a 6.3% increase, and the past three months a 2.2% rise. Christchurch now sits 4.5% above the 2007 peak.

QV Valuer Daryl Taggart said “The market has become more dynamic with buyers starting to head towards previously quiet areas. These areas, which haven’t seen the same amount of growth over the last 12 months, are providing better value for money and less competition.”

“Repairs continue to be undertaken on earthquake damaged properties enabling them to be sold. Demand in the western areas has resulted in more infill subdivisions. There have been some good sales of vacant land, especially where larger sites can be found” said Daryl Taggart.

Dunedin
Values in Dunedin remain stable, up 1.2% over the past three months and still 3.7% up over the past year.

QV Valuer Tim Gibson said “The market still seems positive with sellers achieving quick sales and buyers seemingly optimistic of capital growth. Auctions are still featuring due to interest from multiple parties, although this is generally only occurring in the lower price bracket.”

Provincial centres
Most of the main provincial centres remain stable with slight increases in value over the past three months. The exceptions are Whangarei, down 0.4%, Queenstown Lakes, down 0.4%, and Invercargill which has remained the same. However, over the past month only Queenstown Lakes has dropped with the other two areas rebounding slightly.

For full release with graphs and table…
http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1212/QV_release__November_2012.docx

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