WELLINGTON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's housing market will see "slow and steady growth" in 2024, as there was a general stalling in home value growth at the end of 2023.

Home values have increased across all the main urban centers monitored, but at a reduced rate overall nationally, a report said on Tuesday by Quotable Value Limited (QV), a New Zealand state-owned enterprise providing full market valuations.

The average home value increased nationally by just 0.6 percent throughout the December quarter to 905,070 NZ dollars (558,093 U.S. dollars), down from the 2.3 percent quarterly home value increase reported at the end of November, according to QV.

Across the main centers, Rotorua and Tauranga recorded the most home value growth on average in the December quarter, 6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, QV said, adding that Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch continue to experience relatively robust growth by national standards.

The latest data demonstrate how volatile value trends can be, given current market conditions, QV operations manager James Wilson said.

This slight stalling in the rate of home value growth nationally could well be a result of the increase of new property listings and stock available for purchase, which came to the market throughout the last few months of the year and allowed supply to balance demand in some key markets, thereby suppressing competition, Wilson said.

"In the short term, this influx of new listings should result in market activity increasing throughout January and February," he said, adding that home values are expected to continue to strengthen at broadly similar levels over the next few months, then eventually slow moving into the autumn months.

The biggest handbrake to home value growth at the moment is interest rates, which are expected to remain at current levels throughout much of 2024 as the Reserve Bank looks to reduce high inflation levels, Wilson said.

The nationwide land risk classification framework that is currently being assessed to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards on properties, also has the potential to change the housing market in higher risk areas, he said.

"Insurers have already signaled their intent to re-price or remove the ability to insure within certain risk areas, which will change the game for some locations and re-set value fundamentals," he added. Enditem

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