14 Mar 2024

Housing market recovery uneven, likely to 'underwhelm'

5:19 am on 14 March 2024
Christchurch based housing

Of the 386 suburbs in decline, only 152 have seen falls of 1 percent or more since December. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

The housing market recovery is spreading, with nearly 60 percent of suburbs seeing some improvement this year.

CoreLogic's interactive mapping tool indicates 549 of the 935 suburbs (58.9 percent) it tracks saw an uptick in median estimated property values in the three months to March.

Of the 386 suburbs in decline, only 152 have seen falls of 1 percent or more since December.

CoreLogic NZ chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said 103 suburbs saw value gains of at least 2 percent, with seven up by 5 percent or more.

"Queenstown continues to demonstrate market resilience, with growth in Sunshine Bay (10.6 percent) a standout example," he said.

While price recovery was spreading to more parts of the country, Davidson said the trend was not yet nationwide.

"The market's recovery is unlikely to be a straight line from month to month, or region to region. With mortgage rates still high and affordability stretched in many areas, an underwhelming upturn remains on the cards for 2024."

Recovery in the main centres mixed

Just over half (52 percent) of Auckland suburbs saw values rise, and 10 of those have seen increases of at least 5 percent - including Fairview Heights, Somerville, Northpark, Pinehill, and East Tamaki.

There was a rebound in Hamilton, with 13 suburbs up since December. Tauranga saw price recovery in 14 suburbs.

Wellington saw some recovery with values down in 16 suburbs, while 11 saw gains of at least 3 percent.

Just seven of Christchurch's 82 suburbs saw gains, while Dunedin's 39 suburbs saw some gains.

Explore the full CoreLogic NZ interactive market map here.

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