Housing market becoming stable

House prices in Timaru are up, but only by a fraction, and those in the Waitaki area continue to drop, the latest QV evaluation shows, while a Timaru real estate agent says the region's housing market is relatively balanced.

October was the fourth month Timaru's house prices had climbed and the 0.4 per cent climb on the same month last year equates to an average sale price of $234,662.

The increase is down on September's 1.8 per cent result for the same month last year.

Then, the average sale price for a home in Timaru was $232,979, compared with $231,195 at the end of August, $228,202 at the end of July and $223,747 at the end of June.

There were no figures available for Mackenzie and Waimate, although the Waitaki district saw a -6.8 per cent slump in October 2009 property values on the same month last year, a slight reduction on the -7.4 per cent fall for September 2009.

The average October sale price for a property in Waitaki was now $197,035. Carl Slade from Professionals Fourways Real Estate said the most market activity in the Timaru area was in the $200,000 to $300,000 range and the market overall was reasonably balanced.

"We are back to a good, normal, steady market. We are getting back to normal; it is not doom and gloom anymore, but we're not booming. We're just normal."

Mr Slade said the numbers of homes being sold had also recovered after dropping from about 100 a month during the boom, to about 30 or 40 during the recession.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures showed 56 homes were sold in September this year, compared to 38 in September 2007 and 40 in September 2008.

While property markets in Timaru have stabilised, so has the average property price for New Zealand. As a whole, the country's October 2009 growth rose by 0.2 per cent, taking the average sales price to $389,198.

The QV report showed the country's values are up 3.4 per cent from their low in April, but still lag, by 6.6 per cent, below the market peak of late 2007.

QV valuation manager Glenda Whitehead said market activity was sluggish across the board.

"The continued shortage of properties, especially in the main urban areas, is leading to a continued imbalance in the market with more buyers than available properties. As a result our valuers are seeing many properties sell for well above their expected values."