Gisborne house prices rise

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HOME-BUYERS are now having to pay almost $300,000 for an average Gisborne house, new figures from the Real Estate Institute reveal.

Latest sales data from REINZ show the median house price here last month rose 16 percent to $290,000, $40,000 more than the same month last year.

“Activity in the Gisborne region remains steady, with a continuation of the upward trend in median price,” said REINZ regional director Philip Searle.

“However, inventory levels have fallen significantly, a regular trend for July.”

Compared to June, the median price increased $30,000 (up 12 percent).

“On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the median price increased 1 percent compared to June, indicating that the increase in the median price is in line with what would be expected for July.

“Sales volume for the Gisborne region dropped 14 percent compared to June, and dropped 22 percent compared to July 2016.

“On a seasonally-adjusted basis, sales increased by 15 percent compared to June, indicating that the decline in sales was quite a bit smaller than what is expected at this time of year.

“The number of days to sell eased by three days in July, from 39 days in June to 42 days in July.

“Compared to July 2016, the number of days to sell eased by 12 days. Over the past 10 years the number of days to sell in July across the region has averaged 47 days. There were 11 weeks of supply across the region in July, a decrease of five weeks over the past 12 months (31 percent).”

REINZ is now calling for a loosening for first-home buyers of loan-to-value (LVR) borrowing restrictions, requiring residential buyers to have a 20 percent deposit in place before borrowing from banks.

“As our market is remaining strong, with buyers across the board from first-home buyers to investors, it is difficult to say how much influence the LVR restrictions have had on the Gisborne market, because it's likely that agents are not even seeing buyers who are short of their deposit.

“We feel that the LVR restrictions have forced some investors to Gisborne from out of the Auckland and Tauranga markets because deposits required are less here due to lower sale prices.

“Where local investors might have purchased further properties, some have had to back off due to the restrictions.

“We see no reason for LVR restrictions to be in force outside the main centres.Our market has not seen undue activity. It is strong but any price increases are at a rate that should not cause any problems here.”

Nationally, the median price increased by 3.4 percent year-on-year to $518,000 (up from $501,000) and the national median price, excluding Auckland, increased 6.1 percent to $415,838 year-on-year.