Property figures fail to take off | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Patchy realty markets in Wairarapa took property value growth in the region every which way but up last month.

The average Masterton sale price in January was $252,384 - down almost $10,000 on the December average - with annual property growth reported last month of 2.4 percent, which is down a percentage point on the previous month, according to the latest QV Valuations residential price movement index issued yesterday.

The South Wairarapa annual property growth reported for January was minus 9.7 percent, down 3.6 percentage points on growth mapped during December of minus 6.1 percent.

The average sale price in South Wairarapa for January was $300,447 - down by a shade over $10,000 on the December average.

Carterton yet again a no-show on the QV scale as values for the district were either unavailable or were based on a low volume of sales and considered statistically questionable.

Glenda Whitehead, of QV Valuations, said market activity across New Zealand in January had been likewise patchy.

"Overall, activity was lower than expected, although our valuers are seeing an increase in activity in some sectors of the market and a decrease in others," she said.

"While it is normal for sales activity to be at its lowest over the Christmas period, there is usually an increase in listings activity in January leading into the busiest time of the year in February and March. This January the expected increase appears to be absent."

Ms Whitehead said the lower level of market activity in January could be due to more people forced to take extra leave over Christmas "and only having recently returned from holidays".

She said there are also signs of increasing indecision in the market, fuelled by uncertainty over interest rates, employment, which direction property prices are likely to move, and the recently announced tax working group recommendations.

"The majority of the market activity, particularly in the main centres, is being driven more by existing homeowners and first home buyers rather than investors," Ms Whitehead said.

"Those currently entering the market appear to be taking a cautious approach to their decisions, and are doing their research thoroughly."

Examples of the frantic market activity of 2009 involving multiple buyers competing for a property "appears to have eased at least for the time being", Ms Whitehead said.

She said it is still too early in the year to predict the likely pace of the market in the coming year.

"There is increasing debate around the likely impact of options put forward by the tax working group. But movements in the property market are driven by a combination of factors, and while any tax changes implemented will impact, that change will be alongside other market factors such as interest rates, employment security, and bank lending policies at the time any tax changes come into effect," she said.