According to the CoreLogic QV February 2020 House Price Index results out today, the average value of property across New Zealand rose by 1.1% over the month, taking the three-month change to 2.6%. The average home is now worth $722,475 – up by 5.3% from a year ago, or more than $36,000. The annual increase of 5.3% was the highest since August 2017 (6.9%).

Property values are rising steadily across each of the main centres with the gains over the past three months ranging from 1.0% in Tauranga up to 5.4% in wider Wellington (measured across the City, Lower/Upper Hutt, and Porirua). The recent momentum that has built up in Auckland and Christchurch (after previous long periods of either stagnation or mild falls) has also rolled on, with gains in the three months to February of 1.8% and 1.5% respectively.

“The latest CoreLogic/QV results confirmed that the property market upswing rolled on in February, with the continued gains in values coming alongside rising mortgage lending activity, increased sales volumes, and falling days to sell. In these conditions, it was perhaps inevitable that buyers would feel a growing sense of urgency as the dreaded ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) reared its head, and market observations in recent weeks suggests this is already happening,” noted CoreLogic Senior Economist, Kelvin Davidson.

(All information and content in this section is courtesy www.corelogic.co.nz)