Despite a slight rise in property values for Napier and Hastings, Hawke's Bay homes have not followed a national trend of increasing, QV figures for 2012 show.
QV's real estate residential price index for December showed house prices rose by an average of 5.7 per cent across the country in the past 12 months.
In Hawke's Bay, Napier house prices increased by 0.5 per cent for the 12 months to December, and Hastings dwellings by 1.5 per cent. The average house values in the twin cities were $316,864 in Napier and $292,391 in Hastings.
Wairoa and Central Hawke's Bay prices declined by 5.3 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, with average house values of $149,141 and $209,729.
QV Research director Jonno Ingerson said the national increase was largely due to a booming property market in Auckland and somewhat due to the Christchurch rebuild.
"Looking back over 2012, the increase in national values was predominantly driven by Auckland and to a lesser extent Christchurch," he said.
"These were also the only two areas to have consistently increased, while the rest of the country varied throughout the year."
Despite the increase, the volume of sales were still up to 40 per cent lower than they were during the peak period between 2003 and 2007, Mr Ingerson said.
"Furthermore, the increase in sales volumes was largely in the main centres, especially Auckland, as sales numbers in the smaller centres remained subdued."
He said one of the defining features of 2012 was the low number of properties on the market.
"Many willing buyers found it hard to find suitable properties and this to some extent constrained sales volumes.
"As had been the case for the past several years, quality properties in desirable areas tended to sell quickly for good prices, while properties with perceived flaws either sat on the market or needed to be discounted."
Mr Ingerson said the outlook for 2013 was to remain "variable" in provincial centres such as Hawke's Bay and reflect local economic conditions.
Overall, area values will remain relatively flat, he said.