Property prices down under are following the lead of many markets in the Northern Hemisphere. The most recent real estate values from New Zealand indicate that the global property and financial crises are hitting the island nation, as prices have fallen over the past year an average of 5.8 percent.
Mark Dow of QV Valuations, the group that gathers the figures, said in comments that prices probably won’t improve any time soon: “We are moving into an economic recession and there is plenty of speculation that things will get worse before they get better. Uncertainty about the impact of the global credit crisis, the usual lack of activity prior to an election, and significant tightening of lending policies by the banks is contributing to pessimism in the property market.”
“Given the latest economic forecasts and the state of the finance sector the prices in the residential housing market are expected to decline further for some time yet. The traditional home lenders have also tightened their lending policy which will further reduce the pool of potential buyers, leading to more downward pressure on prices,” added Mr Dow.
Prices in Auckland have seen a 7 percent drop over the last 12 months, while the Wellington area has had a drop of 5.4 percent. On the South Island, Christchurch has had a yearly drop in real estate prices of 1 percent and Dunedin has seen prices fall by 8.5 percent. The popular resort area around Queensland has also seen property prices fall, by 5.3 percent over the past year.
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