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The latest QV House Price Index shows values increased only 1 per cent on average across the Auckland region over the past year, which means while most homes are not any more affordable, they are no longer seeing huge value growth either.
The relatively stable market in terms of value growth has created market conditions that are more favourable for buyers, and we are now seeing more listings on the market as well as homes taking a greater number of days to sell.
For buyers this means it's easier to negotiate on the price you pay, and also means you have more time to do due diligence.
Retail banks are also less strict on lending criteria than they were in the second half of 2017, and it's easier to raise finance in some circumstances with a lower deposit. Interest rates are also relatively low, by New Zealand standards anyway.
In some suburbs, the asking prices for homes have also been reduced, so if you have been looking for a while this could be a good time to get into a first home.
For those who are wanting to move and need to sell their home and then buy again in the same market, it's important to remember it may not be as easy to sell your home quickly as it may have been in recent years (depending on where it is located).
For this reason, it may be safer to sell your home and have a longer settlement period, before you buy a new home. Also, it's worth doing market research around what value you can expect to sell your home for or buy your new one for, as prices have come back a bit from what you may have been able to sell for a year or so ago in many areas.
In terms of value trends, it's interesting to see that the suburb of Glen Innes is now a $1 million suburb and has bucked the region's annual trend of very little growth by seeing values increase 11 per cent in the year to April, to an average value of $1,028,900.
Much of this growth is likely to be due to land values having risen because of a change in zoning under the new Auckland Unitary Plan.
Many sites that have one existing home in the suburb have now been rezoned for terraced housing and apartments, and are being sold for prices that reflect their development potential.
However, in some areas where there has been a lot of this type of new development completed, such as in Flat Bush and Hobsonville Point, values are down 3 per cent year on year and developers are selling new properties at discounted prices compared to what they might have sold for 18 months ago — this includes stand-alone homes and semi-detached townhouses.
Some of the best bargains in the city appear to be in West Auckland, in suburbs such as New Lynn, Laingholm, Titirangi, Sunnyvale and Te Atatu South, where qv.co.nz E-Valuer data shows values have dropped back by more than 3 per cent over the past year.