WELLINGTON (Reuters) - House price growth in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland slowed in June, a development only likely to reinforce the central bank's determination to keep interest rates steady at record lows.
House prices in Auckland grew 2.1 percent on the year, in a seasonally adjusted basis -- half the 4.4 percent annual pace seen in May. On the month, house prices in Auckland, grew 1.0 percent.
The central bank is closely watching house price inflation amid concerns that a sharp downturn in the housing market could pose a financial stability risk.
It recently said any resurgence in house prices would be a worry, as it mulls adding debt-to-income ratio restrictions to its macroprudential toolkit.
In New Zealand as a whole, seasonally adjusted house prices fell 0.2 percent on the month and were up 6.3 percent on the year, little changed from May's annual pace.
(Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)
