Property Market – Regional resilience but weaker main centres in May – Cotality

The latest slight fall in values on the Cotality hedonic Home Value Index comes after some previous months of modest gains, with the national median now at $818,132. That remains 16.3% below the January 2022 peak.

Values were patchy around the main centres in May, with Kirikiriroa Hamilton inching up by +0.1%, but Ōtepoti Dunedin and Tauranga both edging down by -0.1%. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland dipped by -0.3%, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington by -0.4%, and after a period of resilience, Ōtautahi Christchurch fell by -0.8%.

Cotality NZ (formerly CoreLogic) Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson said May’s figures were a reminder that any emerging housing upturn could well remain slow and variable for the time-being, both from month to month and across regions.
“Lower mortgage rates are clearly going to be bolstering households’ confidence as well as their wallets, and there were signs of higher loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratio lending activity in the latest Reserve Bank figures.”

“But it’s not one-way traffic. After all, housing isn’t necessarily affordable in absolute terms, while the economy and labour market remain subdued too. Indeed, filled jobs edged lower again in April. These are certainly restraints on buyers’ willingness to push ahead with property deals or to pay higher prices.”

“May’s drop in values at the national level was fairly trivial and could be reversed next month. But anybody who was anticipating a sharp or widespread increase in property values as we got further into 2025 continues to be disappointed.

National and Main Centres

	Change in dwelling values
					Median  value
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland					$1,073,222
Kirikiriroa Hamilton
Te-Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington*
Ōtautahi Christchurch
Ōtepoti Dunedin
Aotearoa New Zealand

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

	Change in dwelling values
					Median  value
					$1,227,830
Te Raki Paewhenua North Shore					$1,283,925
Auckland City					$1,149,279
					$1,000,134
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland					$1,073,222

May was a patchy month for the various sub-markets across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, with Rodney recording a +0.4% rise, Franklin up by +0.2%, and Waitakere holding steady. But Auckland City and Manukau both fell by -0.3%, with Papakura (-0.6%) and North Shore (-1.0%) registering even larger drops.

Franklin and Rodney remain higher than three months ago, but the rest of Auckland’s sub-markets have seen values drop since February (albeit only -0.1% in Manukau).

Mr Davidson said, “Auckland is a pretty good example of the wider forces that are playing out across the housing market at present. In an environment where lower interest rates are being counteracted by other restraints, the tr