Carterton leads in house value rises

Carterton has yet again captured the regional lead in annual property value growth, the latest QV tables show.

A 2.1 per cent rise in value was posted for the town over the past year, despite a -0.8 per cent fall over the past three months, according to QV operations manager Kerry Stewart.

The average current value of a Carterton property rose $2171 last month, he said, in contrast to the average current value of a Masterton property, which in June fell $2092 from the previous month.

Masterton also posted a -0.1 per cent year-on-year fall for June, while over the past three months a marginal rise of 0.3 per cent in property value growth was recorded for the town, Mr Stewart said.

In South Wairarapa, the average current value rose by $1557 with a correspondingly marginal lift of 0.3 per cent in annual property value also posted, alongside a rise of 1.3 per cent over the past three months.

Some provincial centres, including Carterton and South Wairarapa, had posted marginal gains for June, Mr Stewart said, with other previously slow or declining areas "now picking up".

"In the North Island, areas like Taupo, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua have seen slight declines over the past three months, but in the South Island it is mainly only around Gore and Invercargill where we have seen a decrease in values," he said.

Lifts in property value growth had been also revealed in areas such as Gisborne, which has increased 2 per cent over the past three months, and Whangerei, which increased 2.5 per cent over the same period.

Mr Stewart said the latest monthly property value index showed nationwide residential values had increased further in June with national values up 7.6 per cent over the past year, and an increase of 2.8 per cent over the past three months.

"Nationwide, values continue to increase, although only about half as quickly as they did in the years leading up to the 2007 market peak. Auckland values, however, are increasing at a faster rate than they did before the previous peak," Mr Stewart said.

"This shows that so far the strong increase in values is largely constrained to Auckland and Canterbury, with value increases across the rest of the country still largely subdued," he said.

"There is little sign that values will slow in Auckland in the immediate future. The number of properties for sale is continuing to drop while demand remains strong. Christchurch is also suffering from a shortage of stock, leading to upward pressure on prices," he said.

The rest of the country had avoided "suffering from such a shortage".