Lower selling prices are causing property values to fall across most of the Auckland region, according to the latest figures from Quotable Value (QV).
They show that the average residential property value in Auckland was 0.9% lower in February than it was in February last year.
It was the third consecutive month that the average value in Auckland has been lower than it was 12 months previously, suggesting a definite trend of declining values in the region.
Compared to February last year, average values are now lower on the North Shore (-2.0%), in Waitakere (-0.8%), central Auckland suburbs (-0.5%), Manukau (-0.7%) and Papakura (-0.8%), while the average value in Franklin was unchanged from a year ago. (See the table below for the average values and quarterly and annual changes in value in all districts throughout the country).
Rodney was the only district in the Auckland region where the average value was up (+0.9%) compared to a year earlier.
However while values may be falling in Auckland, the size of the decline remains small.
Since the average value in Auckland began declining in December, it has only fallen from $1,050,647 (in November) to $1,044, 576 in February, a decline of just $6071.
So although average values are declining, they are doing so at a snail's pace. So far it has been a minor easing in values rather than a dramatic collapse.
Values may also be on the verge of easing in Christchurch, where the average value was $495,089 in February, up just 0.1% compared to a year earlier. However compared to three months earlier, the average value in Christchurch was down -0.1%, and both the annual and three month growth rates in the city were lower than they were last month. That suggests average values in Christchurch may also be about to slip into negative territory.
Wellington & Dunedin, yet to peak?
It's a different story in Wellington and Dunedin with average values in the Wellington region up 8.6% on a year ago and average values in Dunedin up 14.3%. And the rate of value growth is also increasing in both cities, suggesting their property values are yet to peak.
Around provincial centres, average values are still rising and in many cases that growth remains quite strong. But the rate of growth is slowing in several of them, suggesting a slow cooling in those markets as well.
For example in Tauranga the average property value was $725,113 in February, up 2.6% on a year earlier and up 1.6% on the previous three months. But in January the annual growth was 3.3%, and the the three month growth 2.0%, which suggests that although property values are still rising in Tauranga, the rate of growth is slowing.
Other major centres showing similar trends are Whangarei, Taupo, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Nelson and Invercargill.
"Our latest figures paint a bit of a mixed picture," QV General Manager David Nagel said.
"On the one hand, we've got more affordable, smaller provincial towns that are still in their upward growth stage, while the likes of Auckland are much further down their growth lifecycle and are now seeing values flatten after a period of sustained growth.
"The rate of annual growth, nationally, has dropped from 6.5% to 3.0% over the past year, which does suggest that the heat has certainly been taken out of the market," he said.
| QV House Price Index February 2019 | |||
| Territorial authority | Average current value | 12 month change% | 3 month change % |
| Auckland region | 1,044,576 | -0.9% | -0.6% |
| Wellington region | 699,183 | 8.6% | 2.0% |
| Total New Zealand | 686,050 | 3.0% | 0.7% |
| Far North | 448,667 | 5.0% | 2.2% |
| Whangarei | 541,694 | 6.1% | -3.8% |
| Kaipara | 542,765 | 6.9% | -1.1% |
| Auckland - Rodney | 959,939 | 0.9% | 1.8% |
| Rodney - Hibiscus Coast | 931,246 | 0.1% | 1.1% |
| Rodney - North | 988,380 | 1.5% | 2.3% |
| Auckland - North Shore | 1,206,744 | -2.0% | -0.7% |
| North Shore - Coastal | 1,369,329 | -3.1% | -0.9% |
| North Shore - Onewa | 967,352 | -0.5% | -1.2% |
| North Shore - North Harbour | 1,203,893 | -0.8% | 0.8% |
| Auckland - Waitakere | 818,788 | -0.8% | -0.9% |
| Auckland - City | 1,232,811 | -0.5% | -0.5% |
| Auckland City - Central | 1,076,069 | 0.0% | -1.3% |
| Auckland_City - East | 1,556,954 | -0.6% | -0.1% |
| Auckland City - South | 1,096,311 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| Auckland City - Islands | 1,135,530 | -3.9% | -3.1% |
| Auckland - Manukau | 896,625 | -0.7% | -1.1% |
| Manukau - East | 1,141,641 | -1.2% | -1.5% |
| Manukau - Central | 699,066 | -0.3% | -1.1% |
| Manukau - North West | 778,224 | -0.1% | -0.7% |
| Auckland - Papakura | 696,415 | -0.8% | -0.3% |
| Auckland - Franklin | 673,782 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Thames Coromandel | 754,853 | 6.0% | 0.0% |
| Hauraki | 416,927 | 7.9% | 0.7% |
| Waikato | 487,503 | 3.3% | 0.7% |
| Matamata Piako | 479,696 | 10.2% | 4.8% |
| Hamilton | 580,233 | 5.8% | 2.5% |
| Hamilton - North East | 722,658 | 4.0% | 1.8% |
| Hamilton - Central & North West | 537,091 | 7.7% | 3.9% |
| Hamilton - South East | 535,262 | 7.0% | 3.0% |
| Hamilton - South West | 517,794 | 5.3% | 2.1% |
| Waipa | 566,217 | 6.2% | 1.1% |
| Otorohanga | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| South Waikato | 253,817 | 12.4% | 3.5% |
| Waitomo | 218,868 | 8.1% | -0.8% |
| Taupo | 511,679 | 9.6% | 4.0% |
| Western BOP | 652,132 | 4.8% | 1.8% |
| Tauranga | 725,113 | 2.6% | 1.6% |
| Rotorua | 456,816 | 9.4% | 4.2% |
| Whakatane | 464,556 | 11.1% | 0.5% |
| Kawerau | 244,455 | 28.5% | 1.0% |
| Opotiki | 307,271 | -0.9% | 2.8% |
| Gisborne | 333,631 | 10.5% | 3.1% |
| Wairoa | 201,419 | 27.0% | 1.2% |
| Hastings | 511,442 | 13.2% | 9.9% |
| Napier | 549,207 | 12.5% | 5.2% |
| Central Hawke's Bay | 371,586 | 17.2% | 6.0% |
| New Plymouth | 458,367 | 4.3% | 0.4% |
| Stratford | 270,719 | 7.7% | -0.1% |
| South Taranaki | 235,449 | 7.8% | 2.8% |
| Ruapehu | 217,444 | 21.3% | 8.3% |
| Whanganui | 271,483 | 14.3% | -1.7% |
| Rangitikei | 220,021 | 14.1% | -6.5% |
| Manawatu | 361,311 | 11.9% | -0.9% |
| Palmerston North | 434,362 | 14.2% | 3.6% |
| Tararua | 224,524 | 21.3% | 2.5% |
| Horowhenua | 346,858 | 14.5% | 3.9% |
| Kapiti Coast | 584,139 | 6.9% | 1.9% |
| Porirua | 590,928 | 8.1% | 1.0% |
| Upper Hutt | 540,836 | 13.9% | 5.7% |
| Hutt | 574,738 | 9.1% | 0.4% |
| Wellington City | 824,029 | 7.9% | 2.3% |
| Wellington - Central & South | 825,748 | 8.2% | 2.9% |
| Wellington - East | 874,158 | 6.3% | 1.0% |
| Wellington - North | 749,548 | 9.2% | 2.0% |
| Wellington - West | 937,733 | 6.7% | 3.4% |
| Masterton | 376,287 | 11.9% | 3.7% |
| Carterton | 415,497 | 11.3% | 2.4% |
| South Wairarapa | 509,868 | 10.1% | 1.5% |
| Tasman | 598,945 | 5.9% | 2.2% |
| Nelson | 612,081 | 7.8% | 2.4% |
| Marlborough | 473,176 | 4.2% | 0.6% |
| Kaikoura | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Buller | 193,524 | 4.7% | 0.8% |
| Grey | 213,144 | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Westland | 256,035 | 7.9% | 2.6% |
| Hurunui | 386,778 | 0.3% | 1.2% |
| Waimakariri | 450,191 | 2.7% | 0.8% |
| Christchurch | 495,089 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| Christchurch - East | 374,931 | 0.8% | 0.0% |
| Christchurch - Hills | 665,411 | -0.7% | -0.3% |
| Christchurch - Central & North | 583,404 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Christchurch - Southwest | 472,543 | 0.0% | -0.4% |
| Christchurch - Banks Peninsula | 516,187 | 0.8% | -2.1% |
| Selwyn | 554,157 | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| Ashburton | 356,555 | 1.7% | 0.5% |
| Timaru | 368,291 | 3.5% | 1.1% |
| MacKenzie | 502,767 | -6.1% | -6.7% |
| Waimate | 247,669 | 6.1% | 2.6% |
| Waitaki | 315,005 | 4.4% | 3.2% |
| Central Otago | 523,218 | 9.8% | 3.8% |
| Queenstown Lakes | 1,204,828 | 8.1% | 2.6% |
| Dunedin | 449,023 | 14.3% | 4.0% |
| Dunedin - Central & North | 462,675 | 13.6% | 2.3% |
| Dunedin - Peninsular & Coastal | 406,636 | 12.8% | 2.3% |
| Dunedin - South | 429,080 | 14.9% | 4.3% |
| Dunedin - Taieri | 469,903 | 15.0% | 6.1% |
| Clutha | 218,630 | 2.3% | -1.3% |
| Southland | 305,939 | 8.0% | 7.1% |
| Gore | 236,756 | 6.7% | 2.9% |
| Invercargill | 287,719 | 10.7% | 1.8% |
| Main Urban Areas | 792,992 | 1.8% | 0.3% |
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