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Southland property investment sound
Despite New Zealand’s stalling national property market, Southland has proved itself a haven for property investment in 2007, writes Jo-ann Hodgson.
With national house sales down and property values showing their first decline since January recently, property investors would be forgiven for worrying about the state of the New Zealand property market. But among these bleak reports Southland, New Zealand's southernmost region, has had a good year.
A report by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand revealed that in July Southland "ran rings around the rest of the country with its median up from NZ$177,750 to NZ$185,000 (approximately £68,425), with property prices in Invercargill [the region's commercial centre], experiencing an eye-catching jump from NZ$188,000 in June to NZ$197,000 in July." The report continued: "As a result Southland remains the region with the greatest annual residential property price growth, up 26.71 per cent on the July 2006 median of $146,000." These figures were released in a month that, of 12 real estate districts studied, six experienced reduced median prices, five received increases and one remained unchanged.
Two months later New Zealand's property market suffered another blow when it was revealed that although house prices were up 12 per cent over the year ending September 2007, the number of houses sold was 24 per cent down on the previous year and 20 per cent lower than the June quarter, according to New Zealand's national house price indicator, the Mike Pero-Infometrics Property Cycle Indicator.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand revealed the month to be the slowest sales month for a September since 2001. Proving once again not to follow national trends, however, Southland saw house prices up 28 per cent on the previous September. NZ News UK reported that
Invercargill led the country with growth of 34.6 per cent in September, up from 34 per cent in August. In comparison, Auckland's property value growth was 12.1 per cent in the same month, from 12 per cent in August, Wellington saw growth of 14.1 per cent from 14.5 per cent and Christchurch 13.1 per cent from 14.1 per cent.
For further information:
Reinz
NZ News
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