City prices break new ground

Average house prices in Christchurch crack the $700,000 mark

The average house value in Christchurch has climbed past $700,000 for the first time following months of record growth.

In the last 30 days alone, the city’s average house value has jumped by 3.7 per cent – the largest increase of any major centre during that time, according to real estate analysts CoreLogic.

The analysts say that while Christchurch’s values continue to rise, the rate of growth throughout the rest of the country has lost momentum. Nationally, house values only went up 1.8 per cent in the last month, well below what was seen in Christchurch.

An average house in Christchurch is now valued at $719,000, CoreLogic said. By comparison, in September it was $666,000.

The $719,000 figure is 10 per cent higher than it was just three months ago and 35.5 per cent higher than it was a year ago.

Both of those jumps are new records for the respective period, according to CoreLogic.

‘‘While we are seeing a relative slowdown across the country, I think Christchurch is one city that’s showing continued strength in the market,’’ CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall said.

He said a huge part of the ongoing growth was down to Christchurch’s affordability.

The city’s average house value remains lower than that of Hamilton’s $861,000 – as well as Wellington and Tauranga, which are both sitting at $1.1 million.

‘‘The appeal for first home buyers and investors alike is obviously very strong [in Christchurch] and that’s just seen continued demand,’’ Goodall said.

He thought credit was tightening for people too, which was affecting their ability to borrow what was needed to buy in other major centres.

‘‘They’ll certainly be looking at Christchurch as an attractive option,’’ he said.

Selwyn and Waimakariri were

following a similar trend to Christchurch, Goodall added.

Dunedin is once again the only major centre with a lower average house value than Christchurch.

Goodall said he expected growth in house values to slow across the country during 2022.

Still, Christchurch’s slowdown may not be as quick as the rest of the country, he said.

‘‘I wouldn’t expect 35 per cent annual growth to last too much longer, but I would expect some way to go in that growth phase for Christchurch.

‘‘For other cities, we might see the growth rate head towards zero per cent by the end of next year.’’

Goodall said Christchurch’s house values began growing in about August last year, in the aftermath of the first national Covid-19 lockdown.

‘‘[The city has] certainly come off a long period of not much growth prior to that,’’ he said.

This latest CoreLogic data has come just a month after it was revealed that the median house value in 10 Christchurch suburbs had risen above $1m.

According to those figures, Fendalton had the highest median value for a Christchurch suburb at $1.52m.

House prices nationwide were up by 1.8 per cent to a median of $987,401 in November, according to the latest CoreLogic House Price Index.

But that rate was down from 2.1 per cent in October and the annual rate fell to 28.4 per cent from 28.8 in October. Goodall said the easing trend was likely to continue, driven by rising interest rates and the tighter lending conditions environment created by new loan-to-value ratios and looming changes to responsible lending rules.

Those market headwinds were clearer and stronger than they had been, and were now joined by a rise in listings volumes, he said.