New QV house values: Wellington rockets ahead, Auckland up less than 1pc

Wellington values have rocketed ahead. Photo/Ross Setford

House value rises in the highly pressured in-demand Wellington market rocketed ahead 9 per cent in the last year while Auckland values rose less than 1 per cent, data out today showed.

Quotable Value said Capital values shot up to hit an average $787,740. The Auckland regional rise in the year to January was far more subdued at just 0.7 per cent and values in New Zealand's biggest city are now an average $1,054,974.

Wellington rents have also risen fast in the last year. QV Wellington senior consultant David Cornford said a lack of housing supply, coupled with increasing population, had put upward pressure on residential values.

"This tight supply is creating strong demand for vacant land and new builds, particularly in the outer Wellington regions including Churton Park, Grenada and Aotea. We're also seeing strong competition in the $1m to $1.5m range for family homes, particularly if the property is well presented and in a popular suburb such as Karori or Khandallah," Cornford said.

Nationally, house value rises set more of a medium pace, up 6.4 per cent annually to reach $671,531 but they fell in Christchurch's south west, down 1.2 per cent to an average $471,587, the central and north areas and Banks Peninsula where values all fell 0.8 per cent.

QV General Manager David Nagel said activity has been slower in many places during the holiday season.

"Values in Auckland are now rising with quarterly growth up 1.6 per cent which is a greater increase compared to the last quarter of 2017.

"The Wellington market continues to rise, however value growth has slowed in the Hutt Valley.

"The Christchurch market remains flat while the Dunedin market continues to see a trend of steady value growth seen there throughout 2017.

"Market activity across the nation appears to be picking up now that people have returned to work from the holiday season," he said.

Loan to value restrictions easing for investors and home buyers, continued strong net migration, low interest rates and a shortage of housing supply are factors he cited which leads him to expect moderate value growth this month and next.

QV's Auckland property consultant William Liew said January was quiet due to the holiday period but the heat had been taken out of the market and buyers were showing less urgency to move.

Tauranga values rose 3.9 per cent to $698,875 and Rotorua values were up 9.8 per cent to $417,258.

In the South Island, residential property values in Nelson are on the rise, increasing by over $50,000 in the 12 months.

Property values were sitting around $508,000 in January 2017, but this new year they have skyrocketed to $558,000 - rising 9.9 per cent.

The Tasman District saw an even bigger rise, up 12.6 per cent or $62,796 in the past year - with the average value now sitting at $560,907.

Quotable Value (QV) Nelson property consultant Craig Russell says the Nelson/Tasman District has a strong demand for well-maintained properties, particularly those valued up to $700,000.

Christchurch City has seen values drop slightly by $3080 or 0.6 per cent in the past year, which is an average value of $494,459 in January 2018.

A high supply of housing stock and a lack of demand are driving low value growth, says QV Christchurch senior consultant, Daryl Taggart.

The nationwide average property value is now at $671,531.

JANUARY 2018 AVERAGE PROPERTY VALUE

New Zealand $671, 531
Whangarei $509,857
Auckland region $1,054,974
Tauranga $698,875
Hamilton $544,935
Rotorua $417,258
New Plymouth $439,011
Napier 483,759
Hastings $453,616
Palmerston North $379,248
Wellington region $634,811
Nelson $558,587
Christchurch $494,459
Queenstown Lakes District $1,116,673
Dunedin $392,512
Invercargill $255,045