Nationally house prices are up by 1.2% to $399,821 to October 2011, from the same period last year, according to Quotable Value (QV). The two most active areas are the Auckland region (up 2.7%) and Christchurch (up 3.4%). Auckland is just a snip, 0.1%, off its high of four years ago. Auckland agents are noticing that selling times are shortening and there is increasing competition for sought after properties. This is being driven by a limited supply – it just extremely difficult for developers to obtain finance to build more dwellings. This is unlikely to change in the near future so house prices in the Auckland area are likely to increase further.
