Property values up in Canterbury

Canterbury is one of four New Zealand regions to buck the national trend and see property values rise during the last quarter.

Nationally, the country has just recorded its first quarterly home value reduction since July last year, albeit a modest one. The latest QV House Price Index shows home values decreased by an average of 0.2% nationally over the three months to the end of May 2024. It is down slightly from the 0.1% quarterly growth reported for April, with the average value now sitting at $923,713.

The rate of home value growth either decreased, or the rate of decline increased, in nearly all of the main urban areas, with the exception for the May quarter of Invercargill up 3.2%, Rotorua up 2.5%, Christchurch up 1.4%, and Dunedin up 1.9%.

In Christchurch, the average home value has also increased by 1.4% to $770,898 this quarter. Its annual growth is shown as 6%. The Selwyn district recorded an average quarterly increase of 1.1% and an average value of $843,120. The Waimakariri district had a nominal increase of 0.4% for the quarter and an average value of $715,423.

QV operations manager James Wilson commented home values aren’t moving one way or the other with any real conviction, and those who are in a position to buy right now, have the upper hand. “Purchasers are spoilt for choice and appear to have time on their side, with nothing to suggest that house prices are going to take off again soon,” he says.