New Zealand home prices to continue moderate growth: Reinz

[WELLINGTON] New Zealand house prices rose marginally in November and early signals suggest price growth will continue, although more moderately, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (Reinz) said on Monday.

Seasonally adjusted nationwide median house prices rose 1.1 per cent from October and were up 23.7 per cent year on year, according to Reinz.

Median month-on-month house prices nationally climbed 3.7 per cent to NZ$925,000 (S$857,100) from NZ$892,000 and were up 23.8 per cent nationally year on year.

In Auckland, the country's largest city, median prices rose 4.4 per cent over the previous month to NZ$1,300,000.

Historic amounts of stimulus to mitigate the pandemic-induced economic recession have helped New Zealand's economy recover strongly, but have lit a fire under house prices.

They are expected to rise 25 per cent this year, having already doubled in the past seven years, making New Zealand's property market one of the least affordable in the world.

House price inflation will ease substantially next year, followed by outright price falls in 2023, but affordability is set to worsen, a Reuters poll found last month.

AFP