Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the rise in values was consistent with lower mortgage rates and an upward trend in property sales volumes – \u201cas well as early tentative signs of an economic turnaround\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, September\u2019s rise in values was clearly marginal, and it\u2019s far too early to conclude that this marks the start of a new, sustained lift,\u201d Davidson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter all, the stock of available listings \u2013 while falling \u2013 remains relatively high, and caution continues to pervade the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn short, we\u2019re not on solid economic ground yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, told the Herald September\u2019s numbers showed \u201ca pretty small shift\u201d and \u201ca pretty lacklustre\u201d housing market. <\/p>\n
Olsen did not think it was evidence of a wider trend of increasing values. <\/p>\n
\u201cA 0.1% increase still leaves national house prices sitting more than 17% below their peak.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo more months of growth in a row, then you\u2019re starting to see a little bit more of a trend, but I think for the moment, one month of growth after five of declines, there\u2019s a question of \u2018is this a monthly blip?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kiwibank\u2019s chief economist Jarrod Kerr called September\u2019s numbers disappointing. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not particularly shooting the lights out for a spring month,\u201d Kerr said of the 0.1% increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disappointing. We\u2019re a long way from a full recovery. We are becoming a little bit more optimistic that the Reserve Bank is finally, actually delivering [after] it\u2019s been dragged kicking and screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davidson, meanwhile, said it was \u201ca good time to be a buyer, provided they can get the finance\u201d. <\/p>\n
He said first home buyers are a strong presence in the market, in particular. <\/p>\n
Mortgaged multiple-property owners have also returned \u201cin greater numbers\u201d. <\/p>\n