Otago Daily Times

Annual property value gain in South averaging above 10%

- SIMON HARTLEY simon.hartley@odt.co.nz

HOME values appear to be easing for spring with the average value up 5.4% across the country, but most of Otago and Southland have delivered gains above 10%, on a year ago.

Queenstown Lakes average prices are higher than wider Auckland’s average, at $1.18 million, while Invercargi­ll had one of the largest percentage gains on a year ago, up 13.1%.

All Dunedin and its environs hit more than 10% on average values, when measured against October last year.

Quotable Value’s general manager David Nagel said housing value growth for October remained ‘‘modest’’ across many areas as affordabil­ity constraint­s put the brakes on, after a period of sustained growth.

Despite a slowdown in Auckland, Mr Nagel said gross domestic product (GDP) growth remained strong and the labour market continued to perform well, which underpinne­d a ‘‘seemingly steady market’’.

‘‘These factors, coupled with a steady interest rate environmen­t and strong net migration, signal that the market is in a relatively strong position,’’ he said in a statement yesterday.

A ‘‘real positive’’ was the continued resurgence of firsthome buyer activity.

The latest CoreLogic buyer classifica­tion data showed firsthome buyers remained a major presence across most main centres, particular­ly around Wellington and Christchur­ch.

QV’s Dunedin property consultant Aidan Young said the city’s values continued their upward trend, rising 10.5% since October last year and by 2.8% during the past three months.

The average value in the city is $422,674.

‘‘Buyer competitio­n remains intense, particular­ly in the $300,000400,000 price bracket where firsthome buyer activity is relatively high,’’ he said.

There were ‘‘good numbers’’ of open home attendees and properties were selling ‘‘relatively quickly’’, he said.

‘‘In this type of market, dead line sale methods are a popular choice for sellers who are looking to achieve an optimal sale price, while also allowing interested parties to undertake their due diligence process,’’ Mr Young said.

Elsewhere around the South Island, Clutha, Westland and Invercargi­ll regions led the way in quarterly growth, with respective value growth of 7.1%, 5.4% and 4.9%. Invercargi­ll’s 13.1% gain was the highest in the South Island, and among the highest in the country.

 ??  ?? Aidan Young
Aidan Young

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