KEY POINTS:
Low unemployment is part of the reason property values rose almost 10 per cent around the country in the past year, according to Quotable Value.
Figures from QV showed 9.8 per cent growth in prices on average nationally for the three months to the end of March, compared to the same time last year.
The average sale price for a property was $363,188 during the period.
QV spokesman Mark Dow said the figures showed the residential housing market was buoyant.
"General economic confidence is high and the employment picture is positive with low unemployment figures," he said. "Buyers appear to continue to show confidence in the market and are willing to pay higher prices."
However, values in the Auckland region rose at a slower rate than the national figure, up 7.5 per cent to a $462,028 average sale price. Auckland City's eastern suburbs average sale price of $681,404 topped the national table. Gore's average sale price of $116,630 was the lowest. Glenda Whitehead, of QV Valuations, said Auckland properties were selling quickly, some in less than a week.
Rodney (10.3 per cent), Papakura (10.7 per cent) and Franklin (14.2 per cent) experienced the biggest percentage increases.
Average property values in other main urban centres also continued to strengthen, with Wellington City up 12 per cent, Christchurch 10.7 per cent and Dunedin 7.3 per cent. In other upper North Island centres, Whangarei property values rose 9.6 per cent on average to a $325,446 average sale price, Hamilton's rose 12.2 per cent to $338,226, Taupo's rose 4.7 per cent to $312,099, Tauranga's rose 2.4 per cent to $414,165 and Rotorua's 11.8 per cent to $254,584.
QV calculates the change in property values by comparing the price over the latest three months with a year earlier.
