Media Release
2 October 2014
Modest property price rise in September
New Zealand property prices remained subdued for the fifth consecutive month in September, according to the inaugural
Trade Me Property Price Index out today. The average asking price for properties for sale rose just 0.1 per cent
month-on-month.
The new Index measures trends in asking prices for residential property listings added to Trade Me Property by real
estate agents and private sellers over the previous three months. It provides buyers, sellers and realtors with an
insight into ‘for sale’ price trends by both type of property (e.g. apartments, townhouses, houses) and by house size.
Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said the September figure was “a far cry” from the strong rises experienced
earlier in 2014. “For example, we saw the change in asking price up more than 5 per cent in March, and there were 3 per
cent month-on-month lifts in both February and April. It’s a sign that the market is in a sustained period of quiet
time.”
According to Trade Me Property’s data, the average asking price across all property types was $487,650 in September
2014, a year-on-year increase of 13.3 per cent. Mr Jeffries said average asking prices peaked in March 2014 at $491,050.
Mr Jeffries said that looking at the long-term data provided further evidence of the market cooling. “We looked back to
September 2009 and compared this with September 2014 and we’ve seen asking prices rise by 26 per cent over that period.
A good chunk of that rise has been over the past two years, but in recent months we’ve seen that pace of increase all
but stutter to a halt.”
Ups and downs in the regions
Six regions saw a double-digit increase in average asking prices over the past year. “Taranaki led the pack with a 23
per cent increase, followed by Gisborne which was up 19 per cent,” Mr Jeffries said. “However it’s important to remember
that both of these regions are relatively small and tend to bounce around a bit.”
The much-reported pressure of demand from buyers in Auckland and Canterbury continues to drive growth in the average
asking prices in these two major metropolitan areas, up 10.1 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively. Otago saw a 12.8
per cent increase in average asking prices year-on-year, and Nelson/Tasman was up 10.5 per cent.
At the other end of the spectrum, West Coast was the weakest (down 9.5 per cent year-on-year), followed by Waikato (up
0.2 per cent) and Marlborough (1.7 per cent).
Smaller houses are experiencing the largest increase in price
Mr Jeffries said the Index’s plateau over the past few months was underpinned by a relative slowdown in asking prices
for larger houses.
“We’ve seen average asking prices for small and medium-sized houses increase by more than 15 per cent across the country
compared to a year ago, while homes with five or more bedrooms were only up 9 per cent.
“The trend is most noticeable in Wellington where larger houses showed a year-on-year decline of 5 per cent, despite the
overall market in the capital ticking up nearly 7 per cent.”
Table 1: Asking prices for houses & YoY changes (Sept 2014 vs Sept 2013)
NationalAucklandWellingtonChristchurchAll property types$487,600$647,800$426,150$434,500 (up 13.7%)(up 10.1%)(up 6.8%)(up 12.0%)Large houses$845,500$992,000$660,550$746,400(5+ bedrooms)(up 8.7%)(up 8.2%)(down 5.2%)(up 12.5%)Medium houses$495,300$668,550$440,700$469,950(3-4 bedrooms)(up 13.5%)(up 8.3%)(up 4.4%)(up 11.9%)Small houses$318,400$494,850$314,400$301,350(1-2 bedrooms)(up 15.1%)(up 11.7%)(up 10.6%)(up 8.0%)
Compact living options driving city price growth
Mr Jeffries said asking price growth in Auckland was being pushed along by non-traditional forms of housing. “Both
townhouses and units have seen asking price growth outstrip traditional residential houses, reflecting the strong demand
for affordable higher-density living options in the Super City.”
The apartment market, dominated by Auckland, saw a slower paced increase in asking prices. “Wellington saw explosive
growth in the asking prices for apartments, up 26 per cent. The catalyst for this is the recent surge of higher priced
central city apartments coming onto the market.”
Table 2: Asking prices for apartments/townhouses/units & YoY changes (Sept 2014 vs Sept 2013)
NationalAucklandWellingtonChristchurchAll property types$487,600$647,800$426,150$434,500 (up 13.7%)(up 10.1%)(up 6.8%)(up 12.0%)Apartments$397,950$389,400$467,200$339,000 (up 8.9%)(up 9.1%)(up 26.6%)(up 0.2%)Townhouses$475,800$645,150$379,100$392,350 (up 11.0%)(up 13.6%)(up 3.5%)(up 6.0%)Units$342,000$439,650$250,600$285,550 (up 13.5%)(up 13.8%)(down 0.5%)(up 8.8%)
-ends-
About the Trade Me Property Price Index:
o The Index is a new piece of analysis launched today, focused on expected sale price. Listings are from private
advertisers and real estate agents.
o The Index is produced from data on properties listed on Trade Me Property in the three months leading up to the
last day of each period. Each period’s value is a truncated mean of three months’ worth of listings. This is to better
reflect trends in property prices rather than month-to-month fluctuations in housing stock.
o The Index uses an “80% truncated mean” of the expected sale price. This excludes the upper and lower 10% of
listings by price, and averages the expected sale prices of the remaining properties.
o It is the first report to provide an insight into ‘for sale’ price trends by type and size of property. Other
reports tend to aggregate the property price data across these various properties.