Central Wellington has the cheapest homes in the country, property data firm Cotality says. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Central Wellington has the cheapest homes in the country, property data firm Cotality says, but Newmarket has had the biggest fall in values over the past five years.
It has released its end-of-year data, which it said showed a year of stagnation, with lower mortgage rates helping improve sales volumes but a sluggish economy and weak labour market keeping values down.
Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said despite an extended "flat patch" for values, there had been activity happening.
"First-home buyers have remained very strong, hovering as high as 28 percent to 29 percent of overall purchasing activity, while 2025 has also seen a comeback by mortgaged multiple property owners."
The data showed that Herne Bay remained the most expensive suburb in the country, with a median value of $2.6 million. It was followed by nearby Westmere and Ponsonby, at $2.2m, and Remuera at $2m.
Arrowtown and Tamahere, Waikato, were the only suburbs outside Auckland in the top 10 most expensive.
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Greymouth had the biggest increase in prices over five years, up nearly 60 percent.
This was closely followed by Somerfield, Christchurch, and Hokitika, both experiencing increases of nearly 50 percent over the same five-year period.
Davidson said most of the places where prices had risen strongly were more affordable to start with, including rural locations, small towns, or lower-priced suburbs within larger main centres.
"There are two outliers, however, which are Jacks Point and Lake Hayes; both high-end suburbs in Queenstown, whose popularity among affluent buyers may have contributed to their stronger growth in 2025," he said.
"Nowhere is booming but it's all relative... Invercargill is a good example of that, too. Property has been moving quickly in Invercargill. There's certainly a degree of resilience around Invercargill and that wider southern area."
Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson. Photo: SUPPLIED
The biggest price fall in a year was in Oneroa, Auckland, down 7.9 percent in a year. It was followed by Omaha down 5.7 percent. Atawhai, Nelson was the only non-Auckland suburb in the top 10 lowest value movements.
Newmarket had the biggest fall in prices over five years, down 15.8 percent, followed by Te Aro down 15 percent and Petone down 13.2 percent.
Wellington central was the most affordable region this year, with a median value of $318,706, followed by $353,942 in Taumarunui, $365,347 in Westport and $365,657 in Auckland Central.
Davidson said Wellington central was affected by being an "apartment market". "Apartments just carry lower values than standalone houses. I'd put most of it down to the composition of the market … but there is a role to play for the downturn in Wellington.
"Wellington central was priced a lot higher four or five years ago. Wellington, let's face it, has been a pretty soft market."
He said the only suburbs included were those with at least 1000 dwellings so there could be smaller parts of the country with lower values again.
He said Auckland was notable in that it had most of the highest-value suburbs but was also home to some of the weaker performing areas.
"There is still an affordability challenge in Auckland and the fact that housing is still a bit of a stretch. You've had a sluggish sort of economy and economic confidence around Auckland, as well as a decent supply pipeline still coming through.
"All those things are consistent with each other. So you can have high value real estate, but of course, the flip side of that is that affordability is still a challenge, and that's been a handbrake on growth this year."
He said the question now would be what happened next year.
"There seem to be those fundamentals coming together for a bit more growth in prices, but maybe not a fresh Covid-style boom."
Rents had generally been soft through the year, he said.
"Given the continued decline in net migration, we've also seen rents have weakened this year. There have been outright falls in markets such as Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch which don't happen often, so it's been a tricky period for any investor looking to boost their income. Of course, it's been a more favourable period for tenants."
Renters in Gladstone, Invercargill, had the biggest increase in rents in the year, up 18 percent, followed by 17.3 percent in Waipawa, and 16.9 percent in Timaru. Long Bay in Auckland had the biggest rent drop, down 17.1 percent, followed by Hilltop in Taupō down 13.8 percent and Ngaio in Wellington down 13 percent.
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