Gain beats pain in Napier, Hastings property sales

Rising house values are causing more gain than pain according to a CoreLogic report for Hawke's Bay. Photo/File

Residential property owners in Napier and Hastings are collectively banking more than $1 billion profit annually from property sales, according to a CoreLogic report.

CoreLogic's Pain and Gain report shows for the March quarter alone Napier owners gained $40.67 million and Hastings owners $42.41m when they sold their property.

The median gross profit was $124,835 in Napier and in Hastings it was $124,000.

The loss from Napier sales, compared with the previous purchase price, was a median $57,500. The total loss for Napier was $208.250.

Hastings' median loss was $15,000 but losses were few and far between with a total loss of $107,000.

CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall said strong, long-term growth in national values was behind the reduction in properties reselling at a loss, but the situation was more uneven at a regional level with some performing better than others.

"The key point is the percentage of properties reselling at a loss is low, and continues to drop across the board," he said.

"As prices increase, it becomes less likely a property will sell at a loss."

In some regions apartment owners and property investors were more likely to face a loss.

Of the main centres, Christchurch had the highest proportion of properties resold at a loss in the first three months of the year at 7.9 per cent, a slight increase from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

The QV House Price Index for June shows Hastings values rose 21.6 per cent compared with June last year and rose 5.4 per cent over the past three months. Napier values rose 18.8 per cent compared with June and 4.7 per cent over the past three months.

The average value in Hastings was $420,155. In Napier, it was $442,986.

Central Hawke's Bay values were up 21.4 per cent in the year since June 2016 and 8 per cent over the past three months, but the average current value was just $281,208.

The price value difference between Central Hawke's Bay and Napier and Hastings has precipitated a trend of people moving south in search of more affordable property.

Wairoa's average value was $157,176 last month, up 6.2 per cent up on June 2016 but because values were still below the previous property peak of 2007, pain on resale was likely.

Tararua was up 12.2 per cent to $175,781.