News & Research

Well the property market has kicked into 2020 in much the same fashion it finished 2019. Average values continue to rise across the country, with the annual growth rate increasing to 4.4% at the end of January. That’s up from the 2.0% lull in June 2019, and the strongest annual growth rate since September...

This month we look at property value growth across the country with a particular focus on Dunedin. We also review the RBNZ’s first decision of the year – to hold the OCR flat, and ponder the year ahead – noting the potential impact of being in an election year.

By combining gross rental yields with the change in property values over the past year (i.e. capital gains), we can look at total investment returns – and unsurprisingly the recent results are strong. Each of the top 10 areas of the country has delivered at least 25% in the past 12 months, with Rangitikei,...

Recent figures from Statistics NZ show that we gained approximately 43,800 new migrants (in net terms) in 2019. That’s down from more than 49,000 in 2018, but still a pretty strong result when you compare it to the patterns from 2004 to 2014 – especially around 2011/12, when net migration turned negative!...

Construction activity across New Zealand remains very high and that’s putting pressure on labour capacity in the industry, as well as materials costs. Indeed, costs have increased by around 1% or more for all but one of the last thirteen quarter, with construction cost inflation up 0.9% in December 2019...

Based on percentage, the trend for mortgaged investors’ market share of property purchases remains upwards around many parts of NZ (and they’re also making more purchases by number too). At the same time, there are signs of fatigue creep amongst first home buyers (FHBs) in areas such as Wellington City,...

The property market in 2020 has started the year just as it finished 2019.

Another month, another strong rise in mortgage lending flows. December saw mortgage lending rise by more than $1.1bn year on year, the fourth such increase in a row, and the strongest burst of activity in four years. However, lenders are sticking well below the LVR speed limits and interest only lending is...

The latest research from Wellington Cityscope shows that commercial property sales have decreased significantly in total sales value in the last quarter. For the three months to January 2020, there were 22 sales at a total value of $115 million, compared to the 23 sales at a total value of $208.3 million for...

First home buyers held their ground in 2019, however, the key shift in activity last year came from mortgaged investors. Nationally, the share of purchases from this segment rose to 25% by year-end. There were two areas where mortgaged investors accounted for at least 50% of activity in 2019 – Chedworth...

According to CoreLogic Property Economist, Kelvin Davidson, “The constantly changing dynamics of the New Zealand property market means that many would-be homeowners often find it challenging to understand which suburbs currently match their home-buying budgets”.

While most of us will have enjoyed at least a few days break towards the end of last year, the property market doesn’t appear to have taken a back seat, with values continuing to grow off the back of an already strong spring selling season.

This month we review the Reserve Bank's trifecta of decisions and look at the recent data that probably influenced them.