Auckland average residential property asking prices rose 9.6 per cent in the past year to hit $925,300, slightly below the national average $644,600 which was up 10.2 per cent, according to Trade Me Property.
Christchurch asking prices dropped 0.8 per cent to an average of $471,150 but Wellington outstripped other areas with a 13.2 per cent asking price rise from April last year to last month. Wellington's average is now $541,900.
Canterbury was the only region to show a year-on-year decline in average asking price, with eight regions seeing double-digit growth over the past year, Trade Me said.
Nigel Jeffries, head of Trade Me Property, said a typical property outside Auckland now has an average asking price in excess of half a million dollars.
Bay of Plenty average asking prices rose 12.6 per cent annually but dropped from $590,650 in March to $588,350 in April. But Jeffries said that was only a blip.
"I wouldn't get too excited about a trend reversal here, as we've seen a 13 per cent rise in the average asking price over the past year, up more than $65,000," he said.
Canterbury prices continue to be rocked by the state of the market and Jeffries said it was now almost a regular fixture to see the region in such stark contrast to the rest of the nation.
There was notable growth in the Nelson/Tasman region, up 18.3 per cent annually to $539,250. Marlborough was also up a significant 14.7 per cent to a new record high of $440,600.
Real Estate Institute data on national sales and median prices is due out at 9am tomorrow.