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NZ values drop 5.8 per cent

Catherine Deshayes

New Zealand property values fell 5.8 per cent for the year, as the significant deposits required by first home buyers, uncertainty over the global credit crisis and the upcoming election lowered demand and prices, a QV spokesman said...

Calculated over the three months ending September 2008 in comparison to the same period last year, the average New Zealand property sale price reduced to £133,800.

"Indications last month that a more optimistic mood had come over the market have since evaporated," QV spokesman Mark Dow said.

"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 and there is little expectation of any spring resurgence."

He said the significant deposit required by first home buyers and investors was pushing them out of the market, reducing demand and lowering prices.

Source: New Zealand Herald