Queenstown saw the most growth in the first quarter, with values rising 2.7 percent. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Residential property values are little changed, with slow sales and a glut of listings over the first quarter of the year.
The latest QV House Price Index for March shows the national average home value rose 2.2 percent to $924,734 over the first three months of 2024 - a small increase on the 1.3 percent quarterly home value increase reported at the end of February.
"Flat remains the word of the year so far when it comes to the current state of New Zealand's residential property market," QV operations manager James Wilson said.
"We're seeing only modest movement across the nation - mostly up, but some down - which is a fair reflection of a housing market that is continuing to find its footing again amidst some pretty strong economic headwinds."
The average home value was up 1.9 percent on the year earlier, but 13 percent down on the market's peak in late 2021.
Queenstown saw the most growth in the first quarter at 2.7 percent, followed by Wellington at 2 percent and Christchurch at 1.5 percent.
Among the main centres, Auckland values fell the most at 0.2 percent.
"The recent influx of new listings on the market appears to have had more of a cooling effect within the main centres so far - most notably in Auckland, where home values have largely stalled in recent months," Wilson said.
"Immigration is helping to fuel demand, so it's still unlikely that we'll see any strong value declines as we now start to move into the cooler months of the year.
"I expect to see this trend continue here and in some of our other larger cities over the next few months.
"Although the pendulum has clearly swung in favour of prospective purchasers, with a relatively large number of properties on the market today giving them plenty of choice and helping to maintain downward pressure on prices overall, interest rates and credit constraints are continuing to make life very difficult for everyone."