Auckland's average house price will hit $1 million by next year

Auckland's average house value will hit $1 million by next year and landlords are snapping up 46 per cent of the city's sales, a Quotable Value chief says.

Andrea Rush, QV national spokesperson, told the Herald's Focus programme of the price rise and the landlord effect.

"The average value in Auckland now is $975,000 across the whole region. If the rate of growth increases as it is at the moment, we will have an average value of $1 million by 2017," Rush said.

Investors were also hungry for more properties too, she indicated.

"The latest CoreLogic buyer classification data has show that the share of sales to investors has gone from 37 per cent in 2012 and it's up now to 46 per cent of investors," she said.

Those investors appeared to be buying in advance of further Reserve Bank crackdowns, she indicated.

"Investors are trying to get in as conditions are currently," Rush said.

National house prices shot up 5.6 per cent in the last three months, the fastest increase in the last 12 years, driven by high numbers of migrants, low interest rates and a rush of landlords.

Quotable Value figures issued figures for the last three months, showing prices were rising at their fastest rate since 2004.

Rush said national residential property values rose 13.5 per cent and the national average value was now $590,909.

"Many housing markets around the country are continuing to be driven by strong investor demand, low interest rates, rapid price growth in the Auckland market and strong net migration," she said.

Auckland house values shot up 4.7 per cent in the last three months and 16.1 per cent since last June, reaching a new average of $975,087.

James Wilson, homevalue registered valuer, said the city still had a listing shortage but well-presented properties were moving increasingly quickly, in some cases without even hitting the wider market.

"Investors appear to be heeding the recent warning by the Reserve Bank that further policy measures may be introduced later this year to curb investor activity in the housing market. This appears to have led to a surge in investor activity with many seeking to acquire as many properties as possible under the current rules before any further restrictions are introduced," Wilson said, citing west and south Auckland.

The surge would continue until any Reserve Bank changes, he said, warning to apartment buyers to be careful.

"We strongly recommend completing adequate due diligence before signing a contract to purchase an apartment off the plans, not only into the value level of the property, but also into the background of the developer, paying particular attention to the quality of their past developments, financial stability and scale of the company."

The Queenstown Lakes District had the greatest quarterly increase, up 10.7 per cent during the past three months and 25 per cent year on year.

Hamilton values rose 29 per cent since last June and 6.9 per cent in the last three months to hit an average $492,403. Tauranga values rose 23.6 per cent in the last year and 4.9 per cent in the last quarter, showing an average value of $599,915.