The increase in the expected sale price of small houses alone in Auckland City jumped 15.4 per cent to $670,700 in January, and was up 18.6 per cent over the region as a whole, to $552,450.
Trade Me head of property Nigel Jeffries said the increase reflected a continuing demand from investors and first-home buyers taking advantage of the competitive marketplace for mortgages.
Nationwide the jump in the average expected sale price for small houses was 15 per cent - up to $330,550.
The report also noted an increase in the price of apartments, with a 21 per cent year-on-year increase in the Auckland region that took the average expected price to $439,150.
The average expected price for all property types in the Auckland region increased 13 per cent to $691,300 over the last year, while the average national increase was 14.1 per cent to $498,550.
Valuation company QV reported a 13 per cent increase in Auckland City property values in the 12 months to January 2015, to $927,671.
Director of the company's research branch CoreLogic, Jonno Ingerson, attributed the increase to high demand and low supply.
"Strong net migration, consumer confidence and low interest rates are fuelling demand, while a shortage of housing stock and a relatively low percentage of properties for sale are holding back supply. High demand plus low supply equals rising prices."
Mr Ingerson said for values to stop increasing in Auckland, those factors needed to be addressed.
He said interest rates needed to rise, which looked increasingly unlikely, and net migration would need to slow down.
If the current trend of fewer Kiwis moving to Australia and more returning home was reversed, this would help steady prices, he said.
"There is also a degree of other migrant activity in the Auckland market, for example Chinese investors."
Most crucial, Mr Ingerson said, was the need for more homes to be built in places where people wanted to live.
"Auckland is suffering from a shortage of skilled building labour, competing with the Christchurch rebuild and the impact of losing numbers across the Tasman post-GFC.
"This shortage puts developers and building firms under pressure and can impact project delivery.
"Expect to see Auckland values rise throughout this year, but don't expect the rest of the country to follow any time soon."
Up and away
Price of small houses in the Auckland region:
Auckland City:
$670,700 (up 15.4%)
Franklin:
$325,000 (down 5.5%)
Manukau City:
$421,750 (up 11%)
North Shore City:
$614,000 (up 16.5%)
Rodney:
$542,850 (up 21.9%)
Waiheke Island:
$671,250 (up 23.3%)
Waitakere City
$469,550 (up 11.7%)
Other cities -
Tauranga:
$323,350 (down 3.4%)
Hamilton:
$281,250 (up 9.4%)
Wellington:
$406,800 (down 4.2%)
• Trade Me defines a small house as having one to two bedrooms.
Source: www.trademe.co.nz
