The median price of Hawke's Bay house sales in June failed to reach an expected record high as property investors concentrated on the cheaper half of the market, dragging down the statistical mean.
In April the median Reinz price was $325,250, in May it was $310,000. June was $315,000, a 13 per cent increase on June 2015's median sale price of $280,000.
Property Brokers Hawke's Bay manager Paul Whitaker said there were a lot of investors buying "but those properties are seeing a large increase in price".
He said the overall price increase was evident where properties had recently sold more than once. "We sold a home about 14 months ago for $290,000," he said.
"The owners spent about $20,000 on it and it just sold for $440,000.
"If you are telling me there is no movement in the market, I would say you're bonkers."
The fundamentals are in place for further sale price increases - Reinz spokesman Bryan Thompson said the region was experiencing a dramatic shortage of listings with only nine weeks of supply available, a drop of more than 61 per cent over the past 12 months.
"Demand remains strong in Hawke's Bay with the Hastings District Council coming under fire for not rezoning enough land for development, exacerbating an already tight market and the very low level of listings compared to recent years," he said.
"This is limiting supply and choice for home buyers."
June sales volumes were up 18 per cent compared with June 2015 but down 16 per cent from May.
Seasonally adjusted June sales recorded by Reinz rose 3 per cent compared with May, falling less than normal for the winter month.
The median days to sell increased by two days from May, to 31 days in June.
Regional house prices grew faster than in Auckland in June, at the same time as the number of New Zealand listings fell.
Five regions hit record-high median sale prices, while the national median price eased 1 per cent to $500,000, from $506,000 last month.
The Waikato/Bay of Plenty region recorded its fifth record median sale price for 2016, reaching $438,000, with the median price in Auckland recording $821,000.
Northland reached a new record median of $360,000, while Otago achieved $295,000 and Central Otago Lakes hit $730,050.
The number of sales for June 2016 was 7864, a drop of 13 per cent from May, in line with the winter slow down.
Earlier last week Tremains Real Estate director Simon Tremain said based on Reinz figures, Napier and Hastings values have risen 20 per cent.
"As a rule of thumb, anything bought in 2015 or before you could say has gone up 20 per cent," he said.
In Hawke's Bay the rate of houses sold outpaced the number listed "so that has got to have upward pressure on the market".
"I have never seen it like this. The sheer number of buyers making offers even though we are in the middle of winter.
"We now have had two months in a row with more than 300 sales. While stocks are low and demand high, you would naturally assume that will continue."
Harcourts managing director Kaine Wilson said there was no crystal ball for predicting trends "but my personal point of view is it's definitely looking that way, although we are getting a lot more stock coming to the market than we have had for a little while".
The extra listings "married up" with lengthening days now winter solstice had passed.
The trend of out-of-town buyers was continuing, especially from Auckland with Australian buyers also active.
"From the low end of the market to the mid $1 millions there is still high demand. Once you cross that threshold it is a different market with limited buyers."
Schooling was a strong factor for location desirability.
"We have seen recent high demand around Te Mata Primary and no doubt the same is true for the Napier/Taradale areas."