Wairarapa short on houses for sale

Property Brokers Wairarapa manager Guy Mordaunt said the market had become very competitive. Photo / Pete Nikolaison

People reluctant to sell up in the winter months - and continued interest from out-of-towners - has caused a huge shortage of houses in Wairarapa, a local property expert says.

QV's May residential price movement index showed average home values increased across the region year-on-year.

In Masterton, house values increased by 3.7 per cent to $243,345; in Carterton by 2.1 per cent to $265,722; and in South Wairarapa by 2.7 per cent to $305,942.

Masterton had 62 sales settled in May, Carterton 30 and South Wairarapa 44, QV records show.

Property Brokers Wairarapa manager Guy Mordaunt said the market had become very competitive.

"Stock levels are the lowest they've been for a long, long time," he said. "People like to sell their properties in the summer months but buyer habits don't change year round. [Home owners] have the idea that their houses won't sell as well in winter but that's not the case. People still look for new places after getting married, divorced and so on."

Out-of-town buyers had also affected demand, he said. "One of our agents has sold four properties to Auckland buyers in the last two weeks.

"There's a lot of properties selling in Masterton around the $240,000 mark and there's good sales at the high end of the market.

"Lifestyle blocks are going for over $600,000 and a few properties in the south are going for a million."

It was still a buyers' market at this stage, he said. "Last year it was definitely a buyers' market. We're moving towards a sellers' market, which is a quick change."

Nationwide, residential property values continued to soar in May - up 3.1 per cent over the past three months and 9 per cent year-on-year.

This was the fastest year-on-year rise in 15 months, taking values to 24.1 per cent above the previous market peak of late 2007.

QV national spokeswoman Andrea Rush said the market continued to be affected by activity in larger centres.

"The steepening line of the national index reflects value increases across all of New Zealand's main centres over the past three months with the exception of Wellington, which is showing a slight decrease," she said.

"The usual winter downturn does not seem to have dampened demand as high net migration, relatively low interest rates and a constrained housing supply continue to fuel demand in the Auckland market.

"This demand is also now spreading to provincial centres nearer to Auckland with values up in Tauranga, Hamilton, Cambridge, Pokeno and towns in the Hauraki District."

Changes coming in October, including the Reserve Bank's new loan-to-value ratio limits, requiring borrowers in the Auckland Council area to have a deposit of at least 30 per cent and the Government's re-classification to investment property taxes hadn't had an obvious impact yet, Ms Rush said.

"[The Auckland market] continues its meteoric rise with values in the Super City region rising at the fastest annual rate since mid-2004."