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Paul McBeth

Old Mortgage News

Mixed bag for the big cities

Wednesday 22nd of December 1999

Auckland's stable, Wellington's dipped and the Christchurch market is flat.

That's the word from Massey University's Real Estate Analysis Unit, via a December quarterly roundup of the three cities. In its regular survey of confidence in the residential property market, it found that:

Confidence in the Auckland market next year is likely to be underpinned by a strengthening economy and by interest rates that should remain below their 1996-98 peaks.

In Wellington, confidence is down in all market sectors. However, optimists still outweigh pessimists for low and medium-priced housing. Some of those surveyed said that the growth in Wellington house prices over the last few years has started to erode housing affordability and confidence.

The outlook for the Christchurch residential property market is little changed from three months ago, with a net 17 per cent of those surveyed expecting the market to improve over the next six months. Some panellists said that a lot of new sections were coming onto the market on the city outskirts and this has caused a softening in some section prices.

The surveys are based on questionnaires completed by market specialists in each city, including estate agents, solicitors, developers, valuers and property analysts.

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