Buyers thinking hard before acting as prices keep falling

Home-buyers are less frivolous and not rushing in to deals in the Auckland property market as prices fall across the city, Quotable Value says.

Latest figures show values were down 9 per cent over the past year for April - a marginal improvement on the 10.1 per cent drop reported in March. The average sale price fell from $495,892 to $486,986.

Nationally, property values were down 9.2 per cent, a slight improvement from the 9.3 per cent decline reported in March.

The average sale price declined from $378,399 in March to $372,981.

QV spokeswoman Genda Whitehead said buyers continued to approach transactions with caution.

"In many sales we are noting that personal finance arrangements can often tip the scales one way or the other. Property deals are again being treated as serious financial arrangements, rather than the coffee table talk of those heady days [before the downturn]."

Low interest rates had encouraged many to step back into the market, while investment returns were starting to look better and there was a perception that the market was near or at the bottom, Ms Whitehead said.

February through to April had seen much healthier levels of activity in the under-$500,000 price bracket, although activity at higher price ranges had been more fickle.

Sale prices for properties valued between $500,000 and $1.2 million were "somewhat influenced" by the sellers' financial circumstances, Ms Whitehead said.

"In all price brackets purchasers are returning to the fundamental principles of desirable location and quality of improvements, and are pricing their offers accordingly.

"High-quality property is attracting interest, while those with defects or detrimental factors continue to languish on the market."

Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch values were down but not as much as for the month before.