New Zealand house prices continue to rise in September: QV

[WELLINGTON] New Zealand house prices rose in September, the government property valuer said on Tuesday, as new lending restrictions failed to take the head out of the market.

Quotable Value's (QV) residential property price index rose 14.3 per cent in the year to September, compared with an annual rate of 14.6 per cent in the previous month.

The index is now 49.5 per cent above the market's previous peak in late 2007.

"Despite a clear slowing in activity and demand in the Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga markets since the introduction of the new LVR restrictions for investors, we are seeing little evidence of a slow-down in value growth in these main centres,"said QV's spokeswoman Andrea Rush.

The central bank announced new rules requiring people buying for investment purposes to have a 40 per cent deposit in July. Though the rules did not come into force until October, banks had agreed to act in accordance with the 'spirit' of the regulations until then.

House prices in the Auckland region were 15 per cent higher in the year to September, compared with a 15.9 per cent rise the month before.

REUTERS