QV stats hide big discrepancies

House price trends are turning skyward all over the country, but Quotable Value’s claim that house prices are now 2.6% above their latest market peak hides some major regional discrepancies.

Monday, February 11th 2013, 12:13PM

by The Landlord

QV has released its statistics for January, which show prices are up 1.5% over the past three months, 6.2% on a year before and now 2.6% above their peak.

Research director Jonno Ingerson said the increase in values was no longer just a Christchurch and Auckland story.

“Over the last month or two values have also begun rising again in most of the other main cities and provincial centres. While the rate of value increase is not as fast as Auckland and Canterbury, it does signal an increase in confidence across most of the country.”

But some areas are still very much lagging.

The Far North is 23% below its last peak, Whangarei is 17.5% below, Wairoa is 40.6% below, South Waikato is 18.3% below and Gisborne is still more than 25% off the last market peak.

By contrast, Auckland is now more than 15% above its last peak and Selwyn, in Christchurch, is almost 20% higher.

QV said that over the past three months Auckland prices were up 3%, and were now 10.2% up on the same time last year. The former Auckland City and North Shore had the steepest increases.

Spokesperson Kerry Stewart said interest in houses priced over $2 million was stabilising and they were often selling after auction. “This is in contrast to properties under $1 million, which are still sought after, often selling prior to auction or having their auction dates moved forward due to keen buyer interest.”

Buyers in Hamilton were finding it hard to find a property under $300,000 and prices in Wellington and Tauranga are stable.

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