The average house price in the Queenstown Lakes district has dropped 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023 to $1.66M according to the latest QV house price data released today (Wednesday April 12).

QV says the local market peaked at $1.72M in December 2022 and the latest figures show it teetering on the edge of its first average annual home value decline since September 2020.

The quarterly average is just 0.1 percent higher than the same time last year.

QV says the decline is part of a nationwide trend with national home values making their largest first-quarter fall in more than 15 years, declining on average by 3.9 percent.

“Traditionally you don’t see too many home value declines this time of year due to it being one of the busier periods for buying and selling real estate,” QV national spokesperson Simon Petersen said. 

“But it’s obviously a tough time right now for prospective buyers, who are having to deal with very significant credit constraints amidst an ongoing cost of living crisis.”

The latest QV figures show the rolling three-monthly rate of reduction increased last month in all bar two of the country’s 16 largest urban areas, with the most significant quarterly home value reductions occurring on average in Whangarei (-6.6 percent) and Rotorua (-5.7 percent). 

Of the largest cities, Auckland (-5.2 percent), Hamilton (-5.2 percent), and Wellington (-4.8 percent) led the decline. Christchurch (-1.2 percent) and Hastings (-2 percent) were the two exceptions, the former experiencing the smallest decline of the main centres.

“In less than a year the average home value has fallen from $1M nationally to just a tick over $900,000 today,” Simon said.

“Now it looks destined to fall further still, especially following the Reserve Bank’s latest increase to the Official Cash Rate (OCR), which should maintain that downward pressure on the housing market well into the cooler months of the year, when activity is traditionally even quieter.”

Despite the quarterly decline in the Queenstown Lakes average house price it remains 32.8 percent up on March 2020, just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

PHOTO: Wānaka App