Housing market remains weak

The ANZ Property Gauges use 10 indicators to assess the state of the property market and look  for signs that will impact on house prices.

The bank said that the Canterbury earthquake dented a market already struggling in a deleveraging environment with a slowdown in net inward migration.

Of the ten gauges only two showed a moderately positive direction for rising house prices - the supply/demand balance and consents and house sales.

The supply/demand balance gap was still wide but was closing and at its narrowest point for 18 months while the lack of action in consents and house sales was "drifting down."