28 Aug 2016

Auckland house prices tipped to top $1m mark

7:09 am on 28 August 2016

The average house price in Auckland is set to smash through the $1 million mark when Quotable Value (QV) figures are released next month.

Sold sign outside a house in East Auckland

The $1 million price mark is expected to cause some concern. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Last month the price rose to $992,000, up from $975,000 in June. Prices in the country's biggest city have accelerated by five percent in the past three months.

CoreLogic senior analyst Nick Goodall said the rising trend was set to continue, with the average house price in Auckland likely to surpass $1 million when the next figures are released.

Mr Goodall said investor limits implemented by the Reserve Bank had slowed the housing market slightly, but factors contributing to growth were stronger.

"The key change in the market was the announcement and implementation of the new investor limits which have been put through by the Reserve Bank- requiring an investor to have a 40 percent deposit nation-wide.

"Net migration has started to turn downwards but it is still high- we have a low interest rate at the moment and it is picked to stay low for the foreseeable future and there is still strong demand for housing in Auckland but supply can't keep up," Mr Goodall said.

He said the $1 million price tag had been talked about for a while, but was still likely to cause some concern.

"The housing minister is being called the million dollar minister, the $1 million tag attracts more attention. People will be asking the government and the Reserve Bank to do what they can to slow growth in order to afford a home."

Mr Goodall said the average price in Auckland, which was about $400,000 more than other major cities, was growing too fast.

"People living and working here should be able to afford their own home but with an average house price of over a million dollars that is not affordable to the average family," he said.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs