WELLINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - New Zealand house prices grew at the slowest rate in two-and-a-half years in July, as buyers shifted their attention to cheaper areas in the country from the more expensive cities, the government property valuer said on Wednesday.
Quotable Value's (QV) residential property price index in July rose 6.4 percent from a year earlier, the slowest since February 2015, compared with annual growth of 8.1 percent in the previous month.
The index is now 54.8 percent above the market's previous peak in late 2007.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has raised concerns about the nation's soaring home prices and warned about the systemic risk posed by high mortgage debt in the event of a collapse in the property market.
The slowdown was driven by stricter lending rules introduced by the RBNZ last year, including loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR) limits, QV said, which led investors away from expensive major urban markets.
"The latest QV House Price Index figures show nationwide values are still rising, but this growth is now being driven by regional and provincial centres rather than the largest cities," said QV spokeswoman Andrea Rush.
Annual house price growth in Auckland rose 5.3 percent, the slowest rate since May 2012, while prices in the South Island tourist hub of Queenstown and the eastern town of Hastings each soared 20 percent.
