Summary: <br> The amount of real estate sales are stable and with average values going up.<br> <br> <br> <br> Kelvin Davidson, CoreLogic Senior Property Economist steady positive rises should continue but cautions there are some important milestones to watch out for in the final few months of the year.<br> <br> <br> <br> These include another potential cut to the official cash rate (OCR), a possible loosening of the loan to value ratio (LVR) speed limits, and the final decision on bank capital requirements.<br> <br> <br> <br> He says that in the macro economy news remains supportive for the property market with GDP growth likely to stay above 2% annually, full-time employment is still rising, and the unemployment rate is very low. <br> <br> <br> <br> Davidson says net migration is high – providing support for property demand.<br> <br> <br> <br> A record number of state houses are under construction says the Government. Housing Minister Megan Woods says 3,402 homes are being built across New Zealand of which 2300 are state houses. She says that if the previous National government had been building at that pace, rather than selling state houses off, we wouldn’t have a state housing waiting list.<br> <br> <br> <br> According to TradeMe Property tenants around the country are facing tough competition and increasing rents. It says the number of enquiries on rental listings rose 17 per cent nationwide in the past 12 months.<br> <br> <br> <br> Trade Me Property’s Aaron Clancy says with rentals in hot demand, the national median rent rose 3.1 per cent to $495 a week. Clancy says the strongest demand increase was in Gisborne where the number of enquiries jumped 54 per cent on the year prior. Otago saw demand for rental properties spike 44 per cent while enquiries on rentals climbed 41 per cent in Bay of Plenty. <br> <br> <br> <br> Clancy says the New Year would likely bring more record-breaking rents across New Zealand. <br> <br> <br> <br> Median rents in Wellington are $530 per week. Auckland the median is $550.<br> <br> <br> <br> Small houses (1-2 bedrooms) across New Zealand saw the largest rent increase of any house size in September after a 7.9 per cent increase to $410 per week.<br> <br> <br> <br> TradeMe property has also released its property price data. It says Auckland property prices slumped in September after the average asking price fell 3.7 per cent on the year prior to $882,850, the largest decrease in ten years.<br> <br> <br> <br> Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries says this is the sixth consecutive month the region has seen a year-on-year decline. <br> <br> <br> <br> “It’s hard to say how long it will be before we see the Auckland market bounce back but for the next little while lower prices appear to be the norm,” he says.<br> <br> <br> <br> Meanwhile Wellington property prices gained momentum; 8.7 per cent or $51,000 on this time last year to $644,750.<br> Mr Jeffries said property prices in Wellington took off in mid-2016, a few years later than the Auckland market, and have been gaining momentum ever since.<br> <br> <br> <br> New Capital Values have been released in the Far North District with the median CV up 30.4% from 3 years ago to $365k.<br> Kawakawa’s CVs increased 45% and Kerikeri, had a median CV increase of 25.9%.<br> <br> <br> <br> Accessible Properties, the social and disability housing provider, is to build more than 400 new townhouses and apartments in Tauranga.<br> <br> <br> <br> The homes will be designed for first-home buyers, retirees and renters in its proposal to the Tauranga City Council, which would replace 140 former state homes. The first development of six homes was opened this week.<br> <br> <br> <br> Accessible Properties CEO Greg Orchard says housing wellbeing has become an urgent issue for Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty;...
