Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Top Scoops

Book Reviews | Gordon Campbell | Scoop News | Wellington Scoop | Community Scoop | Search

 

House Price Increases Break New Yearly Records, Regions Most Affected

Housing markets across New Zealand have had their busiest January in four years, pushing REINZ's house price index to a record high.

Invercargill. Photo: Invercargill City Council

The Real Estate Institute's house price index - which measures the changing value of property in the market - rose 7 percent in the year to January to a record high of 2922.

The volume of sales in Auckland rose 9.7 percent on last year, while the rest of the country ticked up slightly by 0.9 percent.

"Normally January is a quiet time of the year, and for a few regions that was definitely the case, however, overall the country had a strong start to the year with the most residential properties sold for the month of January in four years," REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said.

"Much of the increase in sales volumes is being driven by increasing confidence in the housing market which has been underpinned by a relatively strong economy, good employment rates and the low interest rate environment."

The national median house price rose 11.8 percent to $615,000 from $550,000 the previous January.

"Looking around the country, 10 out of 16 regions saw annual increases in the number of properties sold, with particularly strong uplifts in sales volumes in most of the middle of the North Island and the top of the South Island," Norwell said.

Median prices in Southland were 28.7 percent up - to $359,000 - on the previous January, up 24.5 percent in Manawatū/Whanganui to $411,000, Hawke's Bay prices were up 22.2 percent in the year to $683,000, and Otago prices were up 19.9 percent to $570,000.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

 
 
 
Top Scoops Headlines

 
Binoy Kampmark: Rot In The Australian Civil Service

There is no better example of Australia’s politicised public service than its Home Affairs Secretary, Mike Pezzullo. In most other countries, he would have been the ideal conspirator in a coup, a tittletattler in the ranks, and bound to brief against those he did not like. Give him a dagger, and he was bound to use it. More

Ramzy Baroud: The Palestinian Cause Belongs To The World

Once upon a time, the ‘Arab-Israeli Conflict’ was between Arabs & Israelis. Over the course of many years, however, it has been rebranded. The media is now telling us it is a ‘Hamas-Israeli Conflict.’ But what went wrong? Israel simply became too powerful. More

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.