Hutt house prices drop

Lower Hutt’s red-hot housing market has cooled for the first time since last year but house buyers shouldn’t hold their breath, experts say.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures show the median house price in the city dropped for the first time in seven months last month to $801,000, down $48,000 on February.

The drop brings an end to an extraordinary run in the city’s housing market when skyrocketing prices saw the dream of home ownership slip away from many. Between August last year and February a record high median price was reached every month for seven consecutive months. In that time, prices increased from $670,000 and peaked at $839,000.

REINZ acting chief executive Wendy Alexander said it was too soon to say if the market was settling.

‘‘Traditionally as we move towards the cooler months of the year, we do see the market stabilise a little more but then as we head back into summer, prices tend to increase as do sales volumes.

‘‘It is our expectation that prices may continue to rise in the next few months, but then once the reintroduced LVRs have had time to start impacting the market, we will hopefully start to see prices stabilise a little more across the Wellington region.’’

Lower Hutt’s dip coincides with a regional drop in prices from a median of $895,000 in February – an all-time high – to $882,700 last month.

A year ago, the price was $707,000. House prices also fell in Carterton, Masterton, Porirua, South Wairarapa and Wellington during March, while Ka¯piti and Upper Hutt reached record prices of $880,000 and $857,000 respectively.