House prices up after October dip

Growth rates in property values picked up last month after slowing in October, Quotable Value (QV) said yesterday.

Residential property values increased 15 per cent in the year to November. This compared with a 14.5 per cent annual growth rate in October, which was down from 14.9 per cent in September.

QV spokesman Blue Hancock said the November growth was an indication the market remained buoyant despite thoughts it may have been starting to level out.

In the main centres, Hamilton property values were up 27.7 per cent, Christchurch 19.3 per cent, and Wellington 12 per cent.

The growth rate in Dunedin eased to 13.8 from 16.2 per cent, and Auckland City property values were up just 4 per cent.

In the smaller centres, Wanganui showed property value growth of 38.3 per cent, Whangarei 34.5 per cent, Gisborne 28.4 per cent and Rotorua 27.7 per cent.

Last week Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard again raised the official cash rate, to 7.25 per cent, in an attempt to cool the housing market.

He said house prices were 15 per cent higher than the bank had expected them to be 12 months ago.

- NZPA