House values in the Western Bay are holding steady but there's still little sign of an uplift in sales activity.
Shayne Donovan-Grammer, of QV Valuations in Tauranga, said it had been difficult for the residential property market to gain traction this year, and a spring/summer flurry of activity had so farfailed to eventuate.
"Sellers have resisted dropping their prices, though realistically priced and well-presented homes have tended to sell more readily," he said.
The latest QV figures show property values dropped 0.9 per cent for the three months ending in November, compared with the same period last year. That was an improvement on the 2.5 per cent fall for the three months to October, he said.
The values are now 11.4 per cent below the market peak in late 2007.
The average sales price for Tauranga in November was $409,100; the Western Bay district's average sales price was $383,377.
Mr Donovan-Grammer said values had held up better than expected this year, helped by interest rates which had remained steady.
"Tauranga, with its predicted population growth, is still one of the best places in New Zealand to own property but the market needs to be patient before it can expect another cycle of capital growth."
Many households had high debt levels, making it difficult to service mortgage repayments or sell. Often, debt was higher than the net property value because of past lending practices, and prices had fallen on average 11 per cent in the past two years.
Nationally, property values were now 5.6 per cent below the market peak, and QV.co.nz research director Jonno Ingerson said the rate of decline had slowed in recent months and it appeared values were beginning to stabilise.
The average New Zealand sales price over the past three months dropped to $397,805, from $399,055 reported in October.
Mr Ingerson said the number of listings had increased, as was typical this time of year.
