Wellington Snapshot

 

This graph now shows the New Zealand Price Index line (shown in light blue) to provide a comparison between that area and New Zealand overall.

Mr Kerry Buckeridge of QV Valuations said; “The residential property market in the Wellington region is continuing to show some positivity. There has been a noticeable upsurge in property listings over the last few weeks. This may be due to people getting back in the market now that both the Rugby World Cup and elections are over. However, the result is a severely shortened ‘spring selling season’ leading up to Christmas” Mr Buckeridge said.

Mr Buckeridge said “We are continuing to notice positive levels of activity in the first home buyer end of the market and also some good results at the top end. Those in the middle segment of the market continue to be cautious, however there are a number of examples where multiple offers are being made on good properties. The apartment and unit titled property market is facing challenges at the moment after the Unit Titles Act 2010 and the Unit Titles Regulations 2011 came into force on 20 June 2011. The requirements of Body Corporates’ are now far greater, resulting in greater administration costs. As well, there have been substantial increases in the cost of insurance premiums for most apartment complexes. Combined these factors have resulted in large increases to Body Corporate Levies, to the extent sales volumes are beginning to be affected” Mr Buckeridge said.

QV’s Residential Price Index is calculated using sales data from the 3 months leading up to the month being reported. It is not the same as the average sales price, which fluctuates in line with the mix of properties selling in upper or lower price brackets. The average sales price for Wellington in November was $421,778.