According to CoreLogic’s hedonic Home Value Index, Tauranga’s house prices decreased by 0.3 per cent in September despite falling interest rates.

The latest home value data remains patchy and generally sluggish across the country, CoreLogic NZ chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said.

“There are signs that lower mortgage rates have started to boost sentiment in the housing market, but this is yet to flow through to hard pricing indicators meaningfully.”

The declines have reached a total of 4.7% at the national level, with values reducing by $39,399, from $844,825 to $805,426.

Values are still around 16% higher than the March 2020 pre-Covid level but remain almost 18% below the peak of the post-Covid boom.

Outside of Tauranga, the main centres showed mixed results in September, with Hamilton down 1.2 per cent, Auckland falling a further 0.7 per cent (pushing the recent falls to more than 7 per cent), and Wellington by 0.5 per cent.

The recent drop in values might find a floor over the coming months, but at the same time, it’s difficult to see a sharp turnaround in the final few months of 2024, Davidson said.

“This should continue into 2025, but lower rates will also bring forward the timing for when the new debt to income restrictions start to bind."