Rotorua house prices hold their own in current market

The Rotorua property market is holding its own against other North Island towns. Photo / File

The Rotorua property market continues to hold its own while other North Island cities experience a three-month decrease in house values.

The latest QV figures show the average current value for a Rotorua home is $428,063.

That figure grew 0.4 per cent in the three months to July 31 while prices in neighbouring Tauranga decreased by 0.2 per cent.

The Auckland and Hamilton markets also recorded a drop in house prices over the past three months.

Chief executive of Realty Services, which operates Eves and Bayleys, Simon Anderson said Rotorua's three-month increase provided a great snapshot of how people currently see the town.

"Rotorua certainly continues to hold its own in, what is fair to say, the end of a buoyant market," Anderson said.

"The provinces do follow on from the city centres but, to date, Rotorua houses have continued to hold their value.

"There have also been a number of sections sold which indicates people are still keen to build. That's not happening in other centres."

He said it was a good situation for the city to be in and reflected that buyers still saw Rotorua in a positive light.

"The general vibe remains positive."

Professionals McDowell Real Estate co-owner Steve Lovegrove believes Rotorua's increasing average house prices will continue for "some time to come".

"To think that four or five years ago Rotorua was somewhere near last on the Bay of Plenty list in terms of prices increases and now we're somewhere near the top, it's quite delightful," Lovegrove said.

"For me, it shows the magnitude of the attraction of our town, we are on a popularity run that doesn't show signs of letting off. House prices will always be driven by supply and demand and our demand remains high."

He said it was also good to see a small increase as crazy rises often resulted in crazy falls.

"Steadily on the up and up gives everyone a sense of security," Lovegrove said.

Steady was the best way to describe the current market, according to LJ Hooker principal Malcolm Forsyth.

"The fact that were are looking at a 0.4 per cent increase over the past three month is a good indicator of exactly where the market it – things are going up in rather than coming down," Forsyth said.

"I do think we need to look at what's going on in some of these other areas and ask ourselves where we are heading. I do think things will level out here ... may even be a small dip, but I don't predict it will be anything major."

Lovegrove said it was still a lack of stock holding things up.

"The lack of stock has never been quite as severe as it is right now and if we don't have the stock to sell there won't be a lot of selling happening.

"However, spring is less than a month away and spring is traditionally when people thinking of buying or selling decide to make a move."