6 Jun 2014

House prices up, low end sluggish

2:20 pm on 6 June 2014

House values have climbed nationwide but the latest Quotable Value report shows the cheap end of the market is sluggish, as mortgage restrictions affect first home buyers.

The monthly Quotable Value index shows residential property values for May have jumped 8.2 percent on the previous May and 0.7 percent in the past three months.

House prices in some of Auckland's million dollar suburbs however are starting to fall short of sellers' expectations. Although values overall in Auckland have risen nearly 5 percent.

But Quotable Value says properties in inner city suburbs such as Grey Lynn and Ponsonby are often not reaching sellers' price expectations.

It says one Ponsonby property with a sale tag of $2 million sold for just over $1.6 million, while a Grey Lynn do-up passed in at auction after failing to reach the price wanted.

However, other properties in those suburbs have reached record sums.

Property values around Christchurch are flat or falling.