Residential property values continued to gradually decline in October and are now 5.5 percent down from the market peak of late 2007, according to the latest QV Valuations report.The report did not provide a measure for Canterbury, saying there were too f
Residential property values continued to gradually decline in October and are now 5.5 percent down from the market peak of late 2007, according to the latest QV Valuations report.
The report did not provide a measure for Canterbury, saying there were too few sales since the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on September 4 to generate a reliable index measure.
The property market in Canterbury was slowly beginning to recover. Sales slowed dramatically in the weeks following the earthquake, but are now beginning to pick up in the less affected areas, the report said.
It is taking longer for sales to go through because additional engineering reports are being required and there were delays securing LIM reports.
"We have seen a small lift in property values across Christchurch city over October, but only in suburbs where there has been little or no earthquake damage. In such areas, agents report demand for quality housing, with some healthy sale prices being achieved," said Melanie Swallow of QV Valuations.
The local economy was being stimulated by insurance and Earthquake Commission (EQC) payouts. This has helped kick-start the property market.
Nationally, after the peak of late 2007, values dropped during 2008 to a low in early 2009, before rising again until early 2010, then beginning to decline again.
Over the last 12 months values first rose 2.8 percent from October 2009 to March 2010, then fell back 1.6 percent since March. As a result, values were still 1.1 percent above last year, but that gap continued to close.
There were plenty of properties for sale but many had been on the market for a long time. The number of new properties was lower than usual for this time of the year.
"The low level of sales activity we have seen all year continued through October, with sales well below both last year and the long term average. There is no sign of the traditional spring surge in sales, and we don't expect any significant increase in sales before the New Year," said QV.co.nz research director, Jonno Ingerson.
