Winter drives house price surge

Wellington’s winter was a boon for property prices with a 10 per cent surge in growth from May to September in 2016.

Nick Goodall, a senior research analyst at property research firm CoreLogic, said while the Wellington region took a bit longer than Hamilton or Tauranga to get going during winter the QV house price index figures showed annual growth jumped from 10.2 per cent to 21.2 per cent - ’’an exceptionally steep curve, especially for the winter months.’’

Growth had since stalled over the past three months, with December’s annual growth at 20.5 per cent.

Goodall said the region’s winter boom was down to picky buyers who had held off, but bought up as desperation hit when the market began moving. Buyers being able to borrow at low interest rates and record low listings around the region also drove up prices.

Although still buoyant, Wellington’s market was cooling as 2017 bedded in with loan-to-value restrictions, rising interest rates, a slight reduction in demand and a forecast easing of net migration putting a handbrake on 2016’s property surge.

Latest CoreLogic buyer classification data showed first home buyers continued making their mark across the region as they adjusted expectations and modified their ‘must have lists’.

First home buyers made up 29 per cent of sales in 2016, well above the nationwide 20 per cent, Goodall said.

Nationwide residential property continues to increase in value and has now ticked over the $1 trillion mark but in a review of the year just gone, CoreLogic said earthquakes, Brexit, and Donald Trump’s United States Presidential election had all made the property market much more uncertain.