Huge falls in house prices this year

QV’s October quarter House Price Index (HPI) shows the average value of New Zealand homes was $951,040, down from $1,063,765 in January. 

The HPI shows the average home dropped in value by 3.9% over the three months to the end of October – an improvement on the 5.4% quarterly reduction at the end of September. That figure is 5.1% lower than the same time last year and now 9.7% lower than at the start of this year.

The towns, cities, and regions hitting double-digit home value declines is growing, with Wellington (-17.6%) headlining a list of main centres that now also includes Auckland (-11.7%), Hamilton (-10.5%), Napier (-11.6%), Hastings (-11.5%), Palmerston North (-13.7%), and Dunedin (-10.4%). Queenstown-Lakes was the only region to buck the trend, with the average value increasing by 2.9% over the quarter.

QV chief operating officer David Nagel says the traditional spring upswing in the residential property market hasn’t amounted to much more than a small speed bump, with few pockets of true home value growth, and only a relatively small decline in the market’s downward trajectory these past two months in a row.