Auckland property prices rise

Auckland property values have increased 2.7 per cent in the past year and are almost back on a par with 2007's previous market peak.

The gain in the Auckland market helped push national values up 1.2 per cent in the past year, according to QV figures for October.

The average sales price for the Auckland region in October was $526,861.

However, nationally prices still remain 4.4 per cent below the 2007 peak. In Auckland, house prices are just 0.1 per cent below the 2007 peak.

The slight improvement in prices nationally was first driven by Auckland and post-quake Christchurch prices rising, but now other regions are also starting to lift, QV research director Jonno Ingerson said.

QV's Residential Price Index is calculated using sales data from the previous three months. It is not the same as the average sales price, which fluctuates in line with the mix of properties selling in upper or lower price brackets.

Glenda Whitehead of QV Valuation said there had been no real boost to spring listing numbers in the Auckland region.

While sale prices moved up in many suburbs, activity was "patchy" she said.

"Where there is strong demand it is often not matched by listing levels resulting in some fierce competition for desirable properties. Typically, these are suburbs close to the central business district. Activity in many of the outer suburbs remains flat.

"Within the Manukau area, particularly the eastern suburbs and Dannemora, we have noticed an increase in market activity. Many properties in these areas are achieving sale prices up to and above those at the height of the market in 2007," Whitehead said.

But market values were not rising in the southern Auckland area although there were signs of investors getting back into the market to fix up properties and on-sell them.

There was also little activity in leasehold flats in the Quay Park and Viaduct areas. That was because ground lease renewals were either imminent or underway creating a great deal of uncertainty, she said.

Some of the developments in these areas were also hit by the fallout of BlueChip's collapse and leaky building problems.

"The converging of such issues... has had a severe impact on activity and sale prices," Whitehead said.