North prices going south

North Shore houses on New Zealand's north island are selling for much less than they did three years ago...

A firm of valuers has studied Shore house prices and found a big drop from sales recorded in the last few months.

Gary Brunsdon of Sheldon & Partners said price dives had particularly shown up in recent sales data the firm had compiled.

"If you bought after 2006, today you'd be lucky to get your money back," he said.

Sheldon has also criticised statistics from the Real Estate Institute and QV, claiming these do not reflect the real value drops the housing market has suffered.

"The use of average house price sales and median sales compared to previous periods is the most commonly quoted statistic.

"However, these can misrepresent the actual situation.

"The only true gauge of market movement is the resale of the same or very similar property over a period of time where there has been no physical Change affecting value.

"For this reason Sheldon periodically analyses property resales to accurately assess market movements," the firm said.

A list was compiled to show re-sales and Sheldon said there had been little physical Change to these properties between the transaction.

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz