Fewer expect NZ house prices to rise

Will house prices keep rising as before? Fewer New Zealanders think the boom will keep going. Photo / Getty

Fewer people are expecting house prices to rise and the trend is particularly marked in Auckland.

The latest ASB Housing Confidence Survey out today showed a 25 per cent drop in the number expecting rises.

"A net 44 per cent of survey respondents now expect house prices will increase over the next 12 months, down from the net 52 per cent who expected price gains last quarter, and well down from the record high of 69 per cent in the three months to July," the survey found.

"Unsurprisingly, the fall in net house price expectations is most pronounced in Auckland, where net price gain expectations fell to 30 per cent from 50 per cent last quarter."

The results come after Real Estate Institute data this month showed Auckland house prices barely moved - the December median sale prices rose only 0.7 per cent from November and sales volumes fell 11.5 per cent.

Nick Tuffley, ASB chief economist, said net price expectations outside Auckland had also fallen but still remained at high levels.

On whether now is a good time to buy a house, 16 per cent said yes and 21 per cent said it was a bad time. A net 22 per cent of Auckland respondents regarded now as a bad time.

Read the full report here: