House Price Increases Driving Auckland Renovation Recovery
It is a good time to be a tradesman serving the North Shore of Auckland, but those in Tauranga, Rotorua and Queenstown
are likely to continue to find it tough for some time.
March data released by Quotable Value showed that house prices in Auckland were up 9.9% over the past 12 months, with
many North Shore suburbs (including Sunnynook, Chatswood, Forrest Hill, Totara Vale, Glenfield and Hillcrest) rising by
about 20 per cent. Others weren’t so lucky, with Tauranga and Rotorua growing less than 3%, while Queenstown prices fell
1.8%.
Keith Roberts, director of Builderscrack.co.nz, a website for arranging quotes from tradesmen, said that “Increasing
house prices are driving greater spend on renovations. Our data shows that in Auckland, where house prices have risen
the most, homeowners have the confidence to invest more in renovating their homes, while those in suburbs where prices
have trended sideways or downwards are being much more cautious. Many builders on our site have been praying for house
price increases”. The exception has been Christchurch, where house prices rising 6.9% did little to help renovation
confidence.
“There tends to be a lag between house price increases and investment in renovations, so we’d expect a further increase
in renovations over the next few months as confidence returns with improved household wealth levels”.
Table 1. QV residential property index vs. Builderscrack.co.nz renovation job index
Quotable Value residential property index
(March 2009 to March 2010)
Builderscrack.co.nz renovation job index
(June 2009 to March 2009)
Auckland 9.9% / 19%
Wellington 6.6% / 14%
Tauranga / Rotorua 0.1%-2.7% / 3%
Christchurch 6.9% / 3%
Queenstown -1.8% / 1%
ENDS