House values creep back up

Hawke's Bay is following a national trend which points to an increase in property values for the third month in a row.
Quotable Value's (QV) national residential property report for July said property values were now 5 per cent below the same time last year but it was an improvement on the -7.1 per cent reported last month.
Nationwide values had increased 0.7 per cent over the past month and were up 1.3 per cent from their low in April.
The national average sale price also increased further to $382,758 in July from $378,535 in June.
In Hastings, property value growth was marked at -8 per cent in July, compared to -9.2 in June and the average sale price for July was $304,277.
Napier recorded a larger recovery, when its property value growth was -5.9 per cent in July compared to -9.2 per cent in June and the city's average sale price for July was $321,658.
Further south in Central Hawke's Bay, the district's property value growth for July was -9.4 per cent, in June it was -5.3 per cent and its average sale price was $187,415 in July.
QV's Napier valuer Bevan Pickett said sales activity had increased significantly in recent months and there was a shortage of good property listings at the moment.
``There are signs that more vendors are putting their properties on the market which should help increase activity levels as we head into spring.
``The decrease in values appears to have abated for the moment which has increased both buyer and vendor optimism with a resurgence of activity from the investment sector apparent,'' he said.
Mr Pickett said low current and forecast interest rates had helped fuel optimism in the property sector although a rising unemployment rate and uncertainty surrounding job security were prompting caution in the market.
The volume of sales around the country was above the historically low levels experienced in the 2008 winter, although they were still less than the long-term average.
The increased number of sales continued to be driven by the affordable end of the market as more investors and first home buyers return to the market.
QV Valuation manager Glenda Whitehead said sales activity nationally appeared to be healthy, particularly because it was winter, a traditionally quiet period for the market.