13 Dec 2022

Average house price drops more than $100k this year, latest figures show

5:58 am on 13 December 2022
For sale sign generic.

The closest comparable year to 2022 was 2008 during the global financial crisis (GFC), the report said. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

The average house value has fallen by more than $100,000 from the start of the year, as the residential market slowdown continues.

Quotable Value's house price index for November shows homes decreased in value by 2.9 percent nationally over the three months ended November, with the average value at $945,568.

The fall was smaller than the 3.9 percent quarterly drop reported at the end of October.

QV said the figure was 10.2 percent lower, or $107,747 less than the start of 2022.

It said the closest comparable year to 2022 was 2008 during the global financial crisis (GFC), when home values fell by an average of 9 percent from January to November, and 9.6 percent for the calendar year.

"It's been a crazy couple of years in real estate with massive growth followed by a pretty significant correction. The last time we saw anything similar to this was after the GFC in 2008, but that was an entirely different kettle of fish to what we're going through right now," QV chief operating officer David Nagel said.

"Home values increased by nearly 30 percent nationally in 2021. In 2022, they've fallen by less than half that much on average, so there's clearly still some way to go until we're back at pre-pandemic levels."

For the three months ended November, the biggest fall in value occurred in Wellington, down 5.2 percent. It was followed by Hamilton and Palmerston North, both falling 4.4 percent.

Auckland's average value fell 3 percent, while Christchurch was down 1.4 percent.

Queenstown Lakes was the only urban area which saw growth in the three months, up 1 percent.

In the 11 months ended November, Wellington led the pack again, seeing a fall in value of 18.7 percent. It was followed by Palmerston North, down 14.5 percent.

Queenstown was again the only urban centre which saw growth in the year so far, up 5.4 percent.

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