According to February's Housing Confidence survey from the ASB, the combination of strong migration inflows, low interest rates and strong consumer confidence means we can continue to expect robust demand for property and price gains during autumn.
The bank says low interest rates will continue supporting the housing market over the coming months and provide borrowers with plenty of opportunities to manage their debt-servicing costs.
Property values
Anyone buying property in Auckland understands that the CV, a council valuation to determine a property's rateable value, can only be used as a guide to a property's market value. Most of the valuations were out of date before they were published.
Now, the Property Institute is urging property owners to do regular checks on home values to keep them up to date.
The organisation's CEO, Ashley Church, says that if you're selling your home, or want to use the equity in it to borrow money, it's important to get the most up-to-date valuation possible.
"This will put you in a stronger bargaining position if you want to sell," he says. "And any increase in value could give you more clout with the bank if you want to borrow money [against your home]."
Church says that many people may not be aware just how much the value of their home has increased since last year's council valuation.
"Knowledge is power," he says.
Investors
And the writing may be on the wall for property investors with hints that anyone owning two or more properties will be targeted by the Reserve Bank.
In essence, it could be that if you own a home you don't live in, you will be deemed to be a property investor.
According to data from QV, almost 40 per cent of residential house sales are to people who already own two or more properties. The Reserve Bank's changes could come into effect as early as July 1.