What's happening with Manawatu house prices?

Council area of Manawatu-Wanganui

Explore Manawatu's property market for the latest trends, house prices, market cycles, rental yields, and top investment suburbs

Author: Ed McKnight

Our Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.

Reviewed by: Laine Moger

Journalist and Property Educator with six years of experience, holds a Bachelor of Communication (Honours) from Massey University.

Last Updated: 24 Mar 2025

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What's happening to Manawatu house prices?

The average price of a Manawatu property is $602,804 (CoreLogic, February 2025).

Quick Facts

The average price of a Manawatu property is $602,804 (CoreLogic, February 2025)
Over the last 3 months property prices in Manawatu have gone down 0.76%
Manawatu property prices increased 6.04% per year (on average) in the 20 years between February 2005 - February 2025 (REINZ)
The average rent in Manawatu is $550 per week (Tenancy Services, November 2024)

How are Manawatu property prices changing?

Manawatu house prices soared after the Covid-19 pandemic began. House prices started out 33% below the eventual peak of the market.

Where is Manawatu in its property cycle?

At the absolute bottom of its property cycle, Manawatu was 23.34% undervalued.

Manawatu suburb prices

I track the value of 6 suburbs in Manawatu. The most expensive suburb is Halcombe, which has an average house value of $665,150. While the most affordable suburb is Himatangi Beach, which has an average house value of $558,400.

Over the last 24 months of all Manawatu suburbs (February 2023 - February 2025, Himatangi Beach had the fastest-growing house prices. They have gone up 0.73% over that period.

The suburb that fell the fastest over that period was Halcombe. Property values in this suburb fell by 4.16% over those 2 years.

What is the Manawatu rental market like?

Here's how rents are changing in Manawatu. Over the last four years (November 2020 - November 2024) the median rent has gone up $145 a week. That's 7.95% a year (on average).

Are properties selling above or below CV in Manawatu?

One of the most common questions I get asked is: “Ed, are properties selling above or below their Capital Value (CV)?”

Other property markets to look into

If you found this article useful, then you might also like our analyses on the other property markets in New Zealand. You can read all about the Manawatu-Wanganui property market here.