Hamilton leads pack for property price growth

Thursday, 2 July 2026

New data from Cotality shows Hamilton property prices edged up by 0.5% in June to a median price of $732,114.

Hamilton led the pack for property value growth last month, bucking the national trend and outstripping other major centres.

New data from Cotality shows Hamilton’s median property price edged upwards in June to $732,114 and remained stable over the second quarter of the year.

Hamilton posted the strongest monthly increase at 0.5%, followed by Christchurch and Dunedin at 0.2%. In comparison, Auckland’s values fell 0.5% and Wellington experienced a 0.4% drop.

After years of instability, Lodge managing director Jeremy O’Rourke said buyers and sellers were choosing to get on with decision-making rather than waiting for global uncertainty to ease.

In a statement, Cotality New Zealand chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said Hamilton was among the major centres seeing an increase in house values off the back of a stronger economic base.

“Recent falls in mortgage rates could be a fillip for buyer confidence and we’re all clearly hoping that the US-Iran peace deal will hold. That would avoid the worst outcomes for inflation, mortgage rates, and the economy - as well as the obvious human and social costs.”

“But the conflict remains a watching brief. And even if the deal does hold, housing conditions are still tilted in buyers’ favour, suggesting little chance of runaway prices anytime soon.”

O’Rourke said buyers were price sensitive, but would snatch up a property if the price was right.

Lodge managing director Jeremy O’Rourke said after years of instability, buyers and sellers were choosing to get on with decision-making rather than waiting for a window of certainty.

“First it was COVID, then it was interest rates, and then it was war in Iran - there's always something.”

If buyers were “constantly too worried about the future, they'll never do anything - and I think they just got over it”, he said.

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said even if the global instability continued, life had to go on - and that includes buying and selling property.

Property sales in autumn were reasonable and the market was active, O’Rourke said, though he noted transactions were down compared to the same time last year.

There was a degree of urgency for the right property, but the price had to be right as “if you're not priced tight to market, the market will overlook you”.

While the first half of the 2026 had been subdued, it was because of world events rather than local factors, O’Rourke said. His outlook over the next six months was “reasonably strong”, with regional population growth, expanding businesses, and a strong rural sector expected to fuel Hamilton’s property market.

According to new figures from Realestate.co.nz, new listings are up 1.9% compared to 12 months ago, and housing stock increased by 6.1% in the same period.

The wider Waikato housing market was also showing signs of stability. According to new figures from Realestate.co.nz, the average asking price in the region for June was $782,940, up 1.6% on June last year. New listings were up 1.9% compared to 12 months ago, while housing stock increased 6.1%.

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood told Waikato Times the data suggested the region’s housing market was neither accelerating or declining.

“The Waikato’s most recent numbers are sort of similar in that they're not moving drastically up or down,” she said.

“There are small movements, but there is a stability to it, which I think is great for vendors who are selling and also great for buyers because it gives them a sense of what they might be paying.”

Like O’Rourke, she said property buyers and sellers were no longer waiting for a more settled global environment to make decisions.

“I definitely think anecdotally we're hearing this across the marketplace that people that have been holding off or waiting for things to settle are just starting to recognise that the world has a level of uncertainty and that has become the norm in more recent times.”

“Life has to continue, and buying and selling property is very much part of that.”

Property Brokers Waikato regional manager Sam Rosenberg said while housing stock in the region wasn’t “rushing out the door”, it was a steady market.

“I think that we're seeing some good steady sales in and around the region for the middle of winter,” he said, adding it was typically the quietest time of year for the housing market.

“What we're seeing is we're holding a lot of listings through winter, whereas we tend to see less listings at this time of year.”

“I think what it shows is that we've got confidence from vendors that it's not a bad time to sell. I think we're in a position now where we are likely to see quite a steady market and I see that continuing into spring, with potentially quite a lot of choice for buyers.”