New Zealand house prices continued to rise in April compared a year earlier, though it fell back from a new record hit in March, a report from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) showed Monday.
The national median house price increased 7 percent year-on-year to NZ$390,500 in April. However, prices fell 2.4 percent from NZ$400,000 in March.
The REINZ stratified housing price index, which adjusts for some of the variations in mix that can impact on the median price, was 9.8 percent higher than April 2012 and increased 0.8 percent compared to March.
Data showed there were 7,104 unconditional residential sales in April, an increase of 25.2 percent compared with the same time last year. This was the best April turnover in six years, REINZ said.
The increase over March on a seasonally adjusted basis was 0.8 percent, indicating that sales were slightly stronger than what would normally be expected for this time of the year. Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler recently asked banks to hold more capital against home loans and wanted them to ease lending amid concerns that easier credit terms are boosting demand.
Presenting RBNZ's Financial Stability Report last week, Wheeler said housing pressures are increasing risk in the financial system.
"House prices relative to disposable incomes are already high by international standards. Further price escalation will worsen the potential damage that could result from a housing downturn following an economic or financial shock," he said in the report.
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