Photo: RNZ
You'd have to pay more than $6.8 million for a median-priced home in the country's priciest suburb at the moment, but you could pick up a flat in the cheapest area for less than $80,000.
Queenstown's Wye Creek tops the list in Corelogic's latest data as the suburb with the most expensive houses.
Prices were down 0.1 percent in a month, up 1.5 percent over three months and up 0.9 percent over 12 months to a median $6.89 million.
Next was Speargrass Flat, also in Queenstown, with a median value of $5.98m. Third was Drift Bay, again in Queenstown, at $5.39m.
The only non-Queenstown suburb in the top 10 was Herne Bay in Auckland, with a median $3.15m.
Queenstown Hill was the most expensive suburb for flats, with a median value of $1.52m followed by Auckland's Stonefields at $1.37m.
At the other end of the scale, the cheapest houses are in Tokomaru Bay, Gisborne, with a median value of $132,104. They have only moved up in price by 0.2 percent over three months and are down 19 percent year-on-year.
Lewis Pass was next, then Ashburton Lakes.
Kotemaori in Wairoa had the cheapest flats, with median value of $78,002.
Corelogic said more than half the suburbs it tracked had increased in value over the first quarter of this year.
Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said, while affordability remained a challenge, improving market conditions were supporting the change in property values.
He said the most expensive housing markets had been through the upswing and downturn in the same way as the rest of the country in recent years.
"Queenstown is a bit immune to the cycle but there is evidence the upper end has gone back. Maybe not quite so much due to the peak of mortgage rates, and more about confidence and people staying where they are, not being willing to trade. But there are certainly signs that the top end hasn't been totally immune to the extent people might think."
He said the downturn was now largely over but 2025 was not likely to be a frenetic year.
"New Zealand's housing market has started to turn, driven largely by lower mortgage rates. Over the past three months, 54 percent of suburbs saw house values stabilise or increase, with a similar trend for flats or townhouses at 56 percent," he said.
"While this recovery is in its early stages, the strongest gains have tended to be concentrated in more affordable areas, where buyers appear to be capitalising on relatively lower property values."
Houses on the West Coast, particularly suburbs in Buller and Grey District, had values increase by 6 percent or more in the past quarter.
Among the main centres, Dunedin's Waldronville (3.9 percent), Hamilton's Temple View (3.5 percent), and Christchurch's Kainga (3.3 percent) recorded some of the strongest gains for standalone houses.
For flats and townhouses, Glenleith in Dunedin (6.2 percent) and Grenada North in Wellington (4.8 percent) led the upturn, while areas such as Deanwell in Hamilton (4.1 percent) and Auckland North Shore's Bayview (3.5 percent) also recorded notable growth.
Davidson said signs of stabilisation in previously weaker markets suggested demand was returning.
"The number of suburbs experiencing price declines has narrowed, indicating the early stages of an upturn. Fewer than 230 suburbs saw house values drop by 2 percent or more over the past three months, while only 111 suburbs recorded similar declines for flats and townhouses," he said.
He said it backed up the data that was being reported generally about the housing market.
"There's support in the form of lower interest rates and restraints in the form of lots of listings, a subdued economy and debt-to-income ratios. There are forces in both directions at the moment. It's not surprising some suburbs are still going down but I'd anticipate as confidence builds in three to six months they will start to turn too."
He said it was not likely to be a boom in prices, but more a subdued upturn.
"Lots comes back to affordability, there are local factors but generally affordability is a common threat. Cheaper suburbs have grown more quickly and it wouldn't surprise me if more expensive markets underperform as people are a bit more cautious and affordability is more of a hindrance."
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