Powerhouse prices
Auckland’s been out of reach for some time now for many buyers – but what about Nelson and Otago?
Cara Rufus-Ellis has watched anxiously as house prices soared over recent years.
She and her family moved to Northland from Australia four years ago. They would like to be able to buy a home but the heat in the market shocked her.
‘‘I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was in Auckland but I never would have thought Whangarei would get as high as it is.’’
Now, she’s hoping that signs Auckland’s property prices are cooling will spread further afield.
Trade Me’s Property Price Index shows the average asking price in Auckland dipped 1.5 per cent to $895,000 in January, the second consecutive monthly decrease.
Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said this was the first back-to-back monthly decrease since June 2012.
But buyers in other parts of the country are not in luck yet.
Jeffries said Auckland’s yearon-year growth was ‘‘incredible’’ but was overshadowed in January by a neighbouring region.
‘‘The Waikato region smashed its own record average asking price this month, hitting $511,750.
‘‘That’s a staggering increase of more than $100,000 in the past 12 months.’’
The average asking price in Waikato has soared by 43 per cent since January 2012. Northland’s average is up 20.9 per cent.
For the whole of New Zealand, excluding Auckland, the average asking price was up 0.2 per cent to $475,700 since December.
Jeffries said the property market outside Auckland remained extremely strong and the average asking price around the country was up 11.4 per cent over the past year, amounting to a $48,500 increase since January 2016.
Six powerhouse regions reported strong double-digit increases in average asking price: Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Nelson, Wellington and Otago.
Jeffries said the dollar increases for each of these regions were ‘‘eye-popping’’.
‘‘When you look at the jumps [in asking price] around the country you can understand the Kiwi preoccupation with investing in property.’’