Now’s the time to buy in Auckland!
The latest monthly QV House Price Index shows definite signs of value increases slowing down.
Almost every town and city in New Zealand was rising in value a few months ago. Auckland had seen a brief dip late last year as the previous round of lending restrictions dented things slightly, but this year, Auckland had then surged away again as had Hamilton and Tauranga and more recently Wellington.
In response to the new lending restrictions, we have seen signs of heat coming out of the market. The level of demand from potential buyers (measured by banks running online valuations on their behalf) showed a much weaker level of buyer enquiry in the weeks following the announcement.
The latest figures from QV are more evidence of that value growth slowing, but we aren’t talking drops in value (comparing the monthly increase between September– October and August–September).
The number of new listings coming onto the market was notably weak during August and September. Wherever the increase was less than the month before, then we have signs of a slow-down. By that measure, 61% of the country is slowing down. Auckland is a bit patchy with a couple of highlights being North Shore slowing from 2.1% per month to 1.0% per month while Auckland Central stayed at 1.2% per month.
So with values slowing, have the lending restrictions have done the trick? Well, they would be if demand and listings hadn’t rebounded.
In line with Spring, there has been a surge in new listings. This increases choice for buyers (and will theoretically ease upward price pressure). So, if you’re looking to buy, now is the time.