Residential property values in New Zealand are 5.2% higher than they were a year ago but are declining, new figures show.
The latest data from valuations company QV show that values in June were 4.3% below the market peak of late 2007, having been 4.1% lower in May and 3.9% lower in April. The June figure is down from a 5.6% increase reported in May, which was the first annual decline in the value change since March 2009.

In Auckland values are 7.9% above last year, down from the 8.8% reported for May. The increase in the Wellington area slipped to 5.4% in June from 6% the previous month and in Christchurch they fell from 5.9% to 6.2%. In some provincial areas values are lower than they were a year ago with Whangarei down 1.1%, Rotorua down 2.1% and Gisborne down 0.9%.

But while values calculated using QV indices had declined, the average sales price in June increased slightly from $403,070 to $404,715. That was due to a change in composition of the sales taking place, and showed the unreliability of using average sales prices to measure value change, QV said.

Glenda Whitehead of QV Valuations said no evidence had shown up so far that May’s budget is having any dramatic impact on the property market. Any effect is likely to take effect during the next 12 months as various tax changes are implemented and depend on whether investors decided to sell as a result of the budget measures.

Whitehead said that at present property sellers with unrealistic price expectations were being bypassed by purchasers. ‘Buyers continue to be very cautious and selective in their purchasing decisions. Properties with perceived flaws such as structural problems, or poor maintenance, or perhaps at a greater distance from town, are proving harder to sell,’ she explained.

Distressed property sales are still having an effect on the market by subduing price levels in areas where they are available and potentially cheaper than non-stressed sales. Sales numbers are around 20% below the long term average, with a decline in activity typical for this time of the year as winter set in.

‘There also appears to have been an easing in the number of new properties coming on to the market, which is a normal trend for this time of the year. There is still plenty of choice for the few buyers actively searching,’ added Whitehead.

A separate report shows that sales fell to their second lowest volume in June. The figures the Real Estate Institute shows that total residential sales fell to 4,575 last month from 5,206 in May, and 6,040 in June last year. It is only the second time in the past 10 years that a June month has recorded fewer than 5,000 sales, the first being in 2008.

The median number of days it takes to sell a property rose to 45 from 43 in May and 41 days in the same month a year earlier, and is 15 days longer than when the property boom peaked in 2007, the data also shows.

Source: http://www.propertywire.com/news/australasia/new-zealand-property-values-201007164319.html

Recently a report was published on a website about properties in New zealand which show that there is not decline in property in Dubai but it is now all over the world. Read this report:

“An upmarket coastal paradise popular with the rich and famous in New Zealand where Prime Minister John Key has a property is suffering from a real estate slump.
Even the presence of celebrities such as fashion designer Trelise Cooper, actor and television presenter Louise Wallace and sailor Dean Barker at Omaha have failed to prevent prices falling.
Real estate agents have noticed a downturn in demand for property at the coastal settlement north of Auckland and are reporting the quietest summer ever in terms of sales.
Properties that are selling are going for substantially below their asking prices. One property listed for $875,000 sold for $690,000 and a waterfront property listed at $1.6 million went for $1.2m.
As a result of the slump 17 properties are being put up for auction this weekend. Some are rumoured to belong to wealthy owners who need to sell their second homes because of the economic downturn.
The area has seen a lot of new construction in the last year. The more established northern end, where Key has a holiday home, is like many other coastal settlements, with plenty of modest properties from the 1970s and 1980s.
The southern is more flashy with large, architecturally-designed homes and lots of For Sale signs. The beach is described as glorious and the area is also popular for fishing and sailing.Some locals claim that cash-strapped developers are having to sell but other properties up for sale are individually owned.
Mark Macky, director of Bayleys North Auckland, which opened an office in Omaha two weeks ago, has heard speculation about the resort’s future, but said it was not borne out by facts.
He described Omaha as a ‘wealthy’ market, and with the who’s who of Auckland owning homes there, public interest was always high and the number of properties on the market represented only 6% of the resort’s total.
However, he admitted that Omaha was not immune to the recession and that prices were on a downward trend and sales volumes had slumped. Only about nine sections sold last year, compared to more than 50 in 2007.
He added that if people were under financial pressure, second homes were often the first assets to be sold.
Source this report www.propertywire.com