WELLINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - New Zealand house prices rose in March, with red-hot Auckland slowing as the capital Wellington picked up the pace.
Quotable Value's (QV) residential property price index rose 12.9 percent in the year to March, compared with 13.5 percent the previous month.
The index is now 52.4 percent above the market's previous peak in late 2007.
Encouragingly for the central bank, which has raised concerns over booming house prices, Auckland, which has been the epicentre of home inflation, continued to cool.
House prices in the Auckland region were up 12.3 percent in the year to March, but quarterly prices dipped 0.2 percent as loan-to-value limits introduced by the central bank last year curbed investment.
Instead, "the Wellington region continues to see some of the strongest value growth of any area in New Zealand, particularly in more affordable areas," said QV National Spokesperson Andrea Rush.
Wellington prices rose 20.8 percent on the year and 3.3 percent in the past three months.
