The places holding on to post-Covid property gains

Tuesday, 7 January 2025

New Plymouth’s property market is holding on to the largest post-Covid gain. (File photo)

Homeowners in some parts of the country are still benefiting from the post-Covid property boom, with values in one regional centre almost 47% higher last month than in March 2020, new data shows.

The latest numbers from CoreLogic show home values across the country have fallen 17.6% since the post-Covid peak.

But at $803,624, the national median value is still 16.2% higher than in March 2020.

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Here’s where property values are holding on to the largest chunk of those post-Covid gains.

New Plymouth

With a median of $698,364 last month, New Plymouth’s property values have fallen just 1.9% since the post-Covid peak.

Although values in Ngāmotu did fall slightly (0.3%) in December, they are still 46.7% higher than in March 2020, when the median value was nearer to $476,000.

Christchurch

Christchurch is faring the best of the main centres when it comes to property values.

The median value of $664,830 in Ōtautahi is 6.8% lower than at the height of the post-Covid boom, but 40.9% higher than pre-Covid.

By comparison, values in Wellington and Auckland have dropped by 24.9% and 22.3% respectively since the peak.

At $789,564, the median value for homes in Wellington is 5.1% higher than in March 2020, while Auckland’s median of $1,066,382 is 8.3% higher over the same period.

Queenstown

According to CoreLogic, homes in Tāhuna Queenstown were the most valuable in the country last month, with a median value of $1,433,921.

That’s 31% higher than in March 2020 when the median was closer to $1.1 million, although it is 5.5% lower than at the post-Covid peak.

Invercargill

At $469,154, the median property value in Waihōpai Invercargill is 27.8% higher than pre-Covid.

Values in Invercargill have fallen 2.7% since their post-Covid peak but rose 4.3% over the 12 months to December, the largest increase reported by CoreLogic for that period.

Whanganui

Whanganui’s median value of $487,570 is 28.7% higher than in March 2020, but down 13.4% from the post-Covid peak.

Home values in the area increased by 2.5% in the year to December.

Other notable mentions include Hastings, where property values are 21.4% higher than pre-Covid, Gisborne (+21.3%), Tauranga (+21.1%), and Hamilton (+20%).