House Price Index
Published 12 Aug 26
We're pleased to launch the MCERT House Price Index (HPI), a new way to track house price movements across New Zealand. Using property sales data from councils, the index shows how house prices have changed nationally, across regions, territorial authorities, and Auckland Local Boards.
The MCERT HPI is available through our Property and Sales Statistics dashboard, where users can freely explore the data online or download the full series for further analysis. The series will be fully recalculated and updated each month as new sales data arrives. Our latest Housing Market Update highlights an ongoing divide between the North and South Islands. Whilst we will continue to report on the REINZ HPI as the timeliest measure of house price movement, we will also use the MCERT HPI for research purposes and to show how those differences have developed over time.
The chart below compares house price movements in Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and Southland since the start of 2020.
During the pandemic era, record-low interest rates and other market stimulus helped drive rapid house price growth across the country. Prices later fell as conditions changed, interest rates rose and changes to the CCCFA caused the market to draw a breath, but not all parts of New Zealand followed the same path.
In the North Island, Wellington experienced the strongest early growth, with prices rising almost 50% from their 2020 level at the market peak. Auckland also saw substantial growth, although less than Wellington. Since then, both regions have experienced significant price declines and today remain only modestly above their 2020 levels.
The story has been quite different in much of the South Island. Canterbury saw some of the strongest price growth in the country, while Otago and Southland also recorded substantial increases. Unlike Auckland and Wellington, these regions experienced relatively smaller declines after the market peaked.
More recently, house prices in Canterbury, Otago and Southland have continued to rise and are now above their previous market peaks. Continued net migration, strong local economies and the strength of the rural sector have all helped support demand in these regions.
The result is a housing market that is increasingly showing different regional patterns, with parts of the South Island outperforming many areas of the North Island in recent years. That doesn’t mean the South Island is more expensive than the North. Whilst house prices continue to rise, it’s the relative affordability that continues to drive growth in these regions.
You can learn more about the MCERT HPI on the Property and Sales Statistics(external link) Dashboard, as well as download the full series for your own research.
