Latest property market update — August 2015

Across the Auckland region, values are up 18.8% annually and 5.7% over the past three months. The average current value of the housing stock now sits at $855,672. That rate of growth is the fastest since 2003 and reflects the current supply and demand imbalance in Auckland.

The last time the increase in values in Auckland did slow considerably was immediately following the implementation of the LVR speed limits in late 2013. This limited banks to no more than 10% of their new lending to customers with a low deposit. The annual rate of increase had been 15.2% in November 2013 and this slowed to 9.2% in October 2014. Values then began to re-accelerate, suggesting that the LVR speed limits had an effect for less than a year.

Values in Hamilton and Tauranga are rising as well — perhaps due as a direct result of Auckland buyers (although that is somewhat speculative of me).

Spring is nearly upon us and, from about now on, we will see more new listings coming onto the market. That, combined with the new looser rules in the regions, may yet see a pick up outside Auckland. The team at CoreLogic predict that Auckland values will continue to increase until the supply side can increase significantly.

http://www.corelogic.co.nz/news-research/item/value-increases-spread-beyond-auckland-but-not-far/