House prices could go up this year, a New Zealand economist says. Photo: Unsplash / Tom Rumble
An economist believes New Zealand's house prices will begin to lift this year after a "deep downturn".
CoreLogic New Zealand's February housing chart pack showed increased activity last month among people who owned multiple properties and people who shifted home.
It also showed a small drop back in the market share of first home buyers to a quarter of the market.
CoreLogic NZ chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said with mortgage rates expected to fall in line with the Official Cash Rate cuts, house prices were likely to rise.
"There's a sense now that we might just be starting to turn around off the back of those lower mortgage rates," Davidson said.
The Reserve Bank had indicated they expected four to five percent growt - analysis Davidson said he would support.
"Even when it does arrive, four or five percent growth in house prices would still be relatively subdued compared to past upturns."
He said there was still a lot of listing in the market, lack of housing affordability and credit restriction, which restrain the market.
Davidson said with regard to the number of houses sold, he expected by the end of 2025 they could see the market reach its long-term average of between 90,000 and 95,000 properties.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
