Two new million-dollar suburbs for Hamilton

Rototuna and Queenwood are now among Hamilton’s milliondollar suburbs, according to housing market data.

That means Hamilton’s property market ended 2021 with six suburbs where the median house price was at least a million dollars, according to the latest housing market data from CoreLogic.

CoreLogic’s Mapping the Market Report also revealed the Kirikiriroa suburb with the lowest median value: Whitiora. It found that despite Covid-19, snap lockdowns and border closures, New Zealand’s property market continued its hot streak with value growth recorded across the whole country.

The data revealed every suburb experienced an increase in median value last year.

Seven of the 966 suburbs covered had a increase of at least 40 per cent.

In Hamilton, all suburbs have seen median values rise by at least 15.9 per cent over the past year, with Flagstaff up at 27.7 per cent. The dollar increases have been largest in Flagstaff ($255,700), with six other suburbs also exceeding $200,000.

The lowest median value is in Whitiora, at $635,900.

Waikato was among the regions to see the highest increases, CoreLogic NZ’s chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said.

‘‘The broad-based upturn across all suburbs has reflected a set of common drivers including low mortgage rates and historically tight supply of listings across the country,’’ he said.

‘‘The hottest markets lately have tended to be around the central and lower North Island.’’

Outside the Waikato region, Mt Maunganui retained its top spot as Tauranga’s highest value suburb, with a median of $1.5m at the end of 2021, with Parkvale the lowest at $706,700 – an increase of $135,150 for the 12 months to December.

Davidson said that while the market was hard for first-time buyers, and would remain tough this year, there was some hope.

‘‘New Zealand’s housing market is due for a slowdown this year as affordability bites, mortgage rates rise, lending rules tighten and with more choice on the market for buyers, we would expect a dampening on price pressures.’’