14 May 2012

According to the latest QV index, New Zealand property values have continued on an upward trend. Nationwide values are up 3.1% over the previous year and 0.4% over the past three months. These figures are still 2.9% below 2007 market peak, with room for growth still on the cards.

QV Valuer Glenda Whitehead said that increases in parts of the main centres of Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton as well as other provincial centres were the catalyst for pushing up nationwide values as a whole. Whitehead believed that strong sales activity was related to the increasing confidence of first-time buyers who were particularly active in the main centres.

Auckland continued its increasing values with a 5% increase over the past year and a 0.6% increase from the past three months in the wider area. The fastest rising values out of any of the main centres came from the old Auckland City, where values are 6.8% greater than April 2011. According to Whitehead, properties in inner leafy suburbs, including old Auckland City, with values in excess of $800,000 continue to be in strong demand with buyer numbers well in excess of the comparatively low level of listings.

Christchurch values also saw a notable rise, sitting 4.8% higher than the past year. With a property shortage also evident, there is the chance for further rises in prices in the city.

Ref: qv.co.nz

Tuesday 1 May 2012

House shortages have pushed up asking prices for Auckland homes, with the third price high in eight months. The new all time high price of $568,820 is a result of the strong number of sales not being met by new listings according to realestate.co.nz chief executive Alistair Helm.

Helm believed the 2% price rise from March was more a representation of the continuous demand rather than purely a lack of listings

“The number of new listings is virtually identical to April last year, but what is different this year is that demand has remained high, with year-on-year sales up more than 20%.” These figures bolster the argument that Auckland property market is heavily undersupplied, in which Helm called a “chronic shortage.”

Despite new listings being a calming influence, inventory remains 24% down from the year prior and well below the long term average of 41 weeks supply. This is somewhat of a surprise given the significant demand for Auckland property, with sellers having more incentive to respond with listings due to the market being clearly in their favour.

“This indicates that we are not heading for a property bubble, but rather that the market is balancing buyers’ demands with sellers’ expectations well,” Helm said.

Shortages in Auckland and Christchurch are set to lift house prices modestly as supply remains particularly low in these areas. Property owners and investors are set to be the main benefactors from this with the market continuing to be in their favour.

Ref: landlords.co.nz

April 16, 2012

According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ), median house prices hit a record high, increasing 4% (NZ$15,000) from NZ$355,000 to a record NZ$370,000, passing the previous November 2011 high of NZ$367,500. Meanwhile, nationwide house sales volumes were at their highest levels since November 2007, reaching 7,330 in March.

According to REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan, with the new median price only NZ$5,000 higher than March 2011 and just NZ$2,500 higher than the previous high, there is potential for further growth in prices. “Prices are certainly not rising sharply, but the trend is certainly starting to move upwards.”

Records were also reached in Auckland with the median sales price being NZ$495,200. This meant sales prices in March were up 6% from February and 5% on March of the previous year. After being noted in the Productivity Commission’s report last week, O’Sullivan attributed this to the low stock and growing demand for Auckland city housing. Auckland Central and the North Shore were the most notable areas where this was the case with prices up 9.7% and 8.2% respectively from March 2011.

ref: interest.co.nz

13 April 2012

Auckland house values have continued to rise, surpassing the 2007 peak. The average value for a house in Auckland is $529,508 – up 5 per cent in a year and 2.2 per cent above the 2007 peak.

According to the latest Quotable Value statistics, other major New Zealand centres have also experienced increases with Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton, Tauranga, Dunedin and Whangarei all experiencing increases. In particular, Christchurch values of $388,629 experienced a 4.1% increase which is past 2007 values, while nationally prices are only 3 per cent below the peak.

According to Quotable Value research director Jonno Ingerson these statistics are representative of a property squeeze, with a lack of supply in Auckland, Christchurch and areas of Wellington meaning March sales were slightly constrained despite returning to their highest levels since 2009.

Ingerson attributed the boosted levels of sales activity with both existing homeowners making a move, and first-home buyers having the confidence to enter the market.

Within the Auckland region, the old Auckland City continued its rapid growth sitting at 4.8 per cent above the peak with a 6.9 per cent increase in the year. The southern part of this area has driven this popularity sitting 6.1% above the 2007 peak and 8.8 per cent above the previous year.

Inner-city Auckland recently experienced further high price sales with a Ponsonby renovated bungalow selling for over double its pre-renovation value for $1.85 million, with a Grey Lynn villa also selling for almost $500,000 above its capital evaluation.

ref: nzherald.co.nz

10 April 2012

Auckland property continues its rise with leading real estate company Barfoot and Thompson experiencing their busiest March sales for five years.

Strong buyer interest meant the company sold 1,246 homes in March, 16.4% higher than the same time in 2011 and 63.1% greater than February.

Average sales prices brought mixed comparisons as although the average price of $571,076 was up 6.5% on February, it was down 1.7% from the previous year. This aligns with trends of previous months in 2012, with potential for price growth still not realised in the growing city.

Managing Director Peter Thompson said that the sales levels were at their highest since March 2007 and attributed this to buyers’ confidence in the long-term value of Auckland property due to population growth, low interest rates and economic confidence.

Mr. Thompson also said that the average March prices were down $10,000 on last year and $2,000 below the December average, suggesting prices were not spiraling.

“While prices may move from month to month, the overall trend remains one of a modest increase year on year.”

ref: landlords.co.nz

5 April 2012

The quake-hit region of Canterbury has been hit with record high house sale asking prices with a nationwide low for unsold inventory in the region. According to a report by realestate.co.nz, national property has also experienced a high with average asking prices of NZ$429,865 up 3% from a year ago.

During March, homes listed for sale in the Canterbury region experienced average increases in asking price of 2% from February and 7% year-on-year, equalling NZ$383,395. House listings were at a similar level to February; however the level of unsold inventory fell 17% from February and was down 60% from March in 2011.

According to realestate.co.nz CEO Alistair Helm, the market remains toward sellers who have the power in most regions throughout New Zealand.Helm points out that “7 of the 19 regions are so low in inventory that they are very clearly providing sellers with the ultimate power”

Ref: interest.co.nz

5 April 2012

As well as nominations for a host of awards associated with New Zealand experiences and tourism providers, Tourism New Zealand has been nominated in the 2012 World Travel Awards as Australasia’s Leading Tourist Board. After winning the featured category in 2011, Tourism New Zealand is hopeful for a repeat.

Destinations and tourism businesses in New Zealand feature regularly in the award categories with at least one nomination in 24 of the 31 categories. This includes the impressive Air New Zealand for Australasia’s best airline, Abel Tasman and Ninety Mile Beach for Leading Beach Destinations and also features the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports for the Leading Airport category.

These awards have been running since 1993 and were launched to recognise and reward performance in the key aspects of the tourism industry. Votes are decided by 217,000 professionals in the industry who are involved in tourism in over 160 countries across the world. The amount of nominations New Zealand have received represent the success of combining our great natural resources with business, as tourism areas such as Queenstown continue to thrive.

Ref: tourismnewzealand.com

5 April 2012

According to the latest Crockers Auckland sales price table, a sizeable increase in sales did not result in price growth. Compare to the previous year, sales were up by 30% in Auckland and 37% nationwide. Although the large sales growth was apparent, prices were found to be up by just 1%.

Medians for February rose to $355,000, $5,000 up from February 2011, with Auckland experiencing a $3,000 increase to $468,000. However, prices within the region of Auckland revealed greater fluctuations with several areas in particular benefiting from greater sales.

The suburb of Manurewa boasted the largest jump in sales going from 37 to 87 sales, a 135% increase, with prices also climbing 34% to $340,000. Only two suburbs in Auckland experienced a drop in sales from the previous year in February, with the majority of areas recording double-digit increases. In particular, Gulf Islands (71%), Mt Albert (88%) and Franklin (84%) had notable rises

Due to a shortage of supply and continuing demand for property in Auckland, rises in price were far above the national average in most cases with Manurewa , Mount Roskill/Onehunga/Penrose, Eastern Suburbs,  and Ellerslie/Panmure all having strong year-on-year average price growth

Ref: landlords.co.nz

5 April 2012

According to Prime Minister John Key, a lack of migration and development finance as well as slow planning processes are key reasons why the New Zealand housing market is again set to take off. When asked his thought on whether the housing market would take off, Key said that his response was partly due to a collapse of several companies which provided finance for development.

Key said this was particularly the case in Auckland where the increases in housing and rent prices are “a function of the fact that there’s a lot of internal and external migration taking place, and not enough supply coming through”.

Meanwhile, Auckland’s biggest real estate agent Barfoot and Thompson noted the amount of homes sold for over NZ$1 million in Auckland over the twelve months to the end of February. The 29% increase for the first two months of the year was amount of sales seen since the 2007 peak year.

ref: interest.co.nz

18 March 2012

A supply shortage and continuous demand have created desperation amongst renters as three-bedroom average weekly rent has increased $55 in a month in Auckland. With popular suburbs having their rent risen 25 per cent in the last year, renters are having to look further away from the CBD. This is further intensified by great competition for rental properties which have brought on a 5.5 per cent rise for weekly rent of a three bedroom house as a result.

With the issue of rising rental prices continuing, Real Estate Institute chief executive Helen O’Sullivan said that this needs attention as buyers are having trouble finding properties to meet their situation.

“It’s getting harder and harder to find a place to live. We’ve got an increasing problem if we don’t get more buildings soon”.

20-year-old student Christie Lundy found this problem as she was forced to settle for a two-bedroom flat for $370 after searching for three months for the most suitable flat possible. With only a handful of listings for the entire Auckland City, Lundy found it more difficult than ever to find a property to live

“There were probably about half the amount of properties than there was this time last year. And 20 or 30 people were showing up”

Ref: nzpif.org.nz