Spring season brings significant lift in property listings, QV reveals

The arrival of spring has brought a surge of residential property listings throughout the nation, Quotable Value data reveals.

Despite the significant rise across most areas, New Zealand QV general manager David Nagel said market values hadn't been affected.

"While listings have increased significantly across most areas, quarterly value growth remains modest due to a lack of new market drivers.

"Supply has been constrained which, on top of stable interest rates, is keeping values at their current levels," Nagel said.

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Nationwide residential property values have steadily increased over the past year by 4.6 per cent, despite a fall of 0.6 per cent in the three months to September.

The latest QV House Price Index shows the average value of a house is now $626,427 throughout New Zealand.

Meanwhile, property value growth across the Auckland region has increased by 0.8 per cent year on year, despite a 0.7 per cent drop in the last quarter.

Figures suggest the average value for the Auckland region is now $1,047,415.

When adjusted for inflation, the nationwide annual increase drops to 3.1 per cent and Auckland to 0.7 per cent over the past year.

Despite experiencing slow quarterly growth, the nation's annual growth is remaining strong in areas where first-home-buying activity is high.

Nagel said the market might not appear to be dramatic on the surface but there is plenty of movement behind the scenes.

"Investors and first-home buyers continue to transform the makeup of more affordable areas on the outskirts of our city centres," he said.

"Investors, in particular, are attracted to these areas due the higher yields attainable in the likes of the Hutt Valley and Porirua."

The boost in listings comes after the Herald heard reports of real estate agents telling sellers to put their homes on the market before the so-called foreign buyer ban comes into effect on October 22.

However, Michael Boulgaris, of luxury agency Boulgaris Realty, said he didn't expect the ban to have led to significantly more homes being rushed to market.

"It might have affected [the listing of] unique properties with sensitive land, but I don't think it will affect the general market."

Boulgaris said New Zealand's property had already adjusted to a drop-off in purchases by Chinese buyers, which mostly dried up about two years ago when the Chinese Government introduced measures to stop domestic money flowing overseas.

"From this time of year to Christmas, we get a lot of Kiwi expatriates sending all the multi-millions back to buy property, so I don't see [the ban] affecting us really," he said.

Nagel said he'd expect the number of property listings to increase as we move closer to summer.