NZ home price growth slows in March

[WELLINGTON] New Zealand house price growth slowed for a fourth consecutive month in March, as lending restrictions and rising interest rates weighed on the market, the government property valuer said yesterday.

Quotable Value's (QV) residential property index rose 8.8 per cent in the year to March 31, compared with a 9.3 per cent annual rate in February.

The index is now 12.6 per cent above the market's previous peak in late 2007, with signs that activity was slowing in the biggest city Auckland, which had been driving national figures.