City house prices climb 2.3pc

Wanganui City PHOTO/FILE

Castlecliff is Wanganui's cheapest suburb when it comes to buying a house, while St John's Hill is home to our priciest digs.

The latest QV New Zealand Herald Property Report, released this week, shows the average house sale price in Wanganui rose 2.3 per cent between July and September to $193,502, while Auckland region prices jumped 4.8 per cent to $676,053.

The cheapest area to buy a house in Wanganui was Castlecliff, with a median house price of $132,000, while the most expensive area was St John's Hill at $234,000.

Meanwhile, PropertyIQ figures show first home buyers have accounted for 21 per cent of all residential sales in Wanganui since the beginning of 2012.

West Auckland had the highest proportion of first home buyer sales at 29 per cent, compared with just 6 per cent in the Coromandel.

Ray White Wanganui director Tim Hocquard said new Reserve Bank lending restrictions had not affected Wanganui.

"I don't think that there are a lot of new first home buyers in Wanganui."

For $125,000 you could get a "fairly good" three bedroom Castlecliff home on a fenced, decent-sized section with a garage.

"So for a $132,000 you would get a lot of house in Castlecliff today."

In contrast, $234,000 would get you "bugger all" in St John's Hill.

"You might get a townhouse or a unit, maybe with two bedrooms as part of an attached property.

"But you're not going to get a substantial family home."

Nationally, the QV figures showed Herne Bay in Auckland retained its top spot as the country's most expensive suburb, rising 3.5 per cent to a median house price of $1.77 million.

Waitakere City's average price showed the biggest regional jump of 6.5 per cent, while Napier prices had the biggest fall, declining 0.5 per cent.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said buyer behaviour had changed markedly since the Reserve Bank's home loan restrictions came into force on October 1.

"Some buyers [have been] horribly depressed.

"They are all having to go back to the drawing board a bit and some of them are changing their buying parameters."

There were "real concerns" coming from regional New Zealand.

"In the regions there's a significant report that first home buyers have dropped out of the market entirely while they're working on their deposits."

Regional home owners looking to upgrade were also struggling to turn their equity into a 20 per cent deposit, she said.

Property Report editor Tony Verdon said while the number of properties listed had increased over the past six months, agents were still lamenting the lack of quality listings.

The full impact of the Reserve Bank's October 1 restrictions were not yet known, he said.