Median house prices up almost 7% in New Zealand in February

Median house prices in New Zealand increased by 6.9% in the 12 months to February to $530,000 but values in Auckland rose more modestly at 3.7%, the latest national index shows.

Excluding Auckland the median price of a home increased by 8.4% and Hawke’s Bay recorded an annual rise of 18.4% to a record high of $444,000, according to the data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

Overall median house prices increased in 14 out of 16 regions across New Zealand during February 2018 compared to February 2017 and the only regions not to experience an increase were the West Coast and Gisborne which saw decreases of 10.7% and 3.1% respectively.

‘The Hawke’s Bay has seen record price increases for two months in a row now, with prices having increased $26,000 since the end of 2017. Clearly the region is proving extremely popular,’ said Bindi Norwell, REINZ chief executive.

‘Auckland’s median price while continuing to slowly creep upwards, is clearly showing signs of moderated growth rather than the double digits we saw throughout 2016 and 2017. This is far more positive for the region as we know double digit increases are not sustainable in the long term,’ she pointed out.

The index also shows that sales are continuing to show positive momentum with the number of properties sold across New Zealand increasing by 1.2% year on year while sales in Auckland during February increased by 2%.

Regions with the biggest increase in sales year on year were the West Coast with a rise of 50% and the highest number of properties sold since May 2012, Nelson up 25.8%, the highest number of properties sold since March 2007 and Southland up 9.7%.

In February some nine out of 16 regions saw an increase in the number of properties sold and Norwell said this points to strong regional growth in the majority of the country. Nelson saw the highest number of properties sold in nearly 11 years and the West Coast saw the highest number of properties sold in just under six years.

‘From a national perspective, we’ve seen the number of properties sold year-on-year increase for two months in a row now. It’s not quite enough data to call a trend, but with nearly 300 more houses sold for the year to date when compared to 2017, it’s certainly a positive sign for the industry,’ Norwell added.

The index also shows that the median number of days to sell a property nationally increased by four days to 44 days in February 2018. Auckland saw the median days to sell a property increase by six days to 49, the highest number of days it’s taken to sell a property in Auckland for nine years.

Regions with the biggest increase in selling time included the West Coast with a 21 day rise, Marlborough up 12 days and Canterbury up seven days to 50, the highest number of days it’s taken to sell a property since March 2011.

Three regions saw a decrease in the number of days to sell year on year with Gisborne down 11 days to 46 days, Hawke’s Bay down five days to 29, the only region with figures still in the 20s, and Southland down three days to 36.