More growth for property market: QV

QV’s March statistics for the residential property market show a 9.8% growth in national property values over the past year.

Monday, April 16th 2007, 9:42AM

by The Landlord

The growth rate increased from 9.3% in February.

Over this period, the average sale price for New Zealand properties was $363,188.

Property values in the main urban centres continue to strengthen with Auckland up 5.9%, Wellington 12%, Christchurch 10.7% and Dunedin 7.3%. Hamilton’s property values grew at 12.2%, the same rate as recorded last month.

Of the provincial cities, increases in growth rates were recorded in Porirua: 14.1%, Palmerston North: 13.1%, Nelson: 10.1% and New Plymouth: 9.9%. Annual growth eased slightly in Wanganui: 13.8%, Rotorua: 11.8%, Queenstown: 4.6%, and Hastings: 3.9%.

Main Urban Areas Commentary:
Auckland:
Property values in the Auckland region grew 7.5%, up from 6.9% last month. The average sale price for the region was $462,028.

“Market activity remains very positive, with properties selling quickly, sometimes in less than a week,” says Glenda Whitehead of QV Valuations.

“The bulk of sales continues to occur in the under $500,000 bracket in the Auckland region,” says Whitehead. “North Shore, Auckland and Manukau cities show greater sales volumes for properties over $600,000. This is perhaps reflective of the type of housing and the desirability of living in these cities. Land values have risen significantly in recent years in the more desirable suburbs such as Takapuna and Devonport on the North Shore, Herne Bay, Remuera and the Eastern Bays within Auckland City, and the coastal suburbs such as Bucklands Beach and the bays within Manukau.”

Hamilton:
Hamilton’s property values increased by 12.2%, the same growth rate as reported last month. The city’s average sale price increased by $7000 to $338,226.

Tauranga:
Tauranga property values grew 2.4%, up from 2% last month and back to the same level as in January.

The average sale price increased from $412,490 last month to $414,165 this month.

Wellington:
Property values in the Wellington region increased by 13.5%. The average sale price for the region was $479,487.

“Wellington’s property market continues to climb with annual growth the highest since May last year,” says Max Meyers of QV Valuations. “The strongest annual growth in the region was experienced in Lower Hutt with property values growing at 16.5%.”

“Within Wellington city, the central city/southern cuburbs area had the lowest increase at 9.7%, but still achieved an average sale price increase of over $50,000 over the past year,” says Meyers. “The highest increase in sale prices was in the western suburbs of the city (including Karori, Northland, and Kelburn) where average sale prices have increased annually by $100,000 to $562,530.”

Christchurch:
Christchurch property values increased by 10.7% over the past year, up from 9.8% last month. The city’s average sale price was $349,121.

“The provincial areas of Canterbury and Westland provided mixed results with Waimakariri, Ashburton, Timaru and Buller recording increases in growth rates, offset by easing growth in Hurunui, Banks Peninsula, Selwyn, Waimate, Grey and Westland,” says Mark Dow of QV Valuations. “However, most areas show higher average sale prices in comparison to last month.”

Dunedin:
Dunedin residential property values increased by 7.3%, up from 6.1% last month. The average sale price in Dunedin was $261,388.

“Growth is steady across most areas in Dunedin, with the peninsular/coastal part of the city experiencing the highest growth rate of 11.4% this month,” says David Paterson of QV Valuations.

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