Hawke's Bay house prices hit record level for second month in a row

SOLD: Auctioneer Craig Smith at an auction in Hastings. PHOTO / FILE

House prices in Hawke's Bay are at an all time high for the second time in a row, after new data shows prices jumped nearly $60,000 in a year.

Latest data from the New Zealand Real Estate Institute show the median house price in the region is now $444,000, surpassing last month's record level of $438,000.

The Hawke's Bay last month saw a price increase of 18.4 percent. That was up from $375,000 in February 2017 or up 3.3 percent from January 2018.

"Median house prices increased in 14 out of 16 regions across New Zealand during February 2018 compared to February 2017, including a record high in the Hawke's Bay" REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said.

"The only regions not to experience an increase were the West Coast and Gisborne which saw decreases of 10.7 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

"The Hawke's Bay has seen record price increases for two months in a row now, with prices having increased $26,000 since the end of 2017.

"Clearly the region is proving extremely popular. Additionally, the recent announcement by the Regional Economic Development Minister, Shane Jones, that nearly $9 million will be spent to reopen the Wairoa-Napier line for logging trains will bring significant development for the Hawke's Bay region."

The median house price for New Zealand rose 6.9% in February to $530,000 up from $496,000 in February 2017 according to the latest data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ), source of the most complete and accurate real estate data in New Zealand.
The median house price for New Zealand excluding Auckland rose even higher, seeing an 8.4% increase to $450,000 from the same time last year.

Prices in Auckland increased at a more moderate 3.7% to $858,000 from the same time last year (up from $827,000) and were up 4.6% month-on-month.