House values in Tauranga have increased at a faster rate than Auckland, up more than 9 per cent in the city year on year last month - with plenty of activity in the market.
According to the last monthly QV House Price Index for August, values in Tauranga also rose 1.7 per cent the past three months, with the average value in the city sitting at $694,361.
Western Bay of Plenty home values rose 9.9 per cent in the past year, and up 1.8 per cent in the past three month, to an average of $613,073.
That compared to a national average value last month sitting at $641,648.
House property values in the Auckland region increased 2.8 per cent in the past year - its slowest growth since October 2011.
Lack of winter listings, LVR restrictions, stricter bank lending criteria and buyer uncertainty due to the election had all contributed to the trend, the QV report said.
QV Tauranga valuer David Hulme said the market in Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty was "stable" with the panic buying of 2015/2016 now giving way to a "more subdued approach" from buyers.
"Investors are definitely much less active in the market than they were during the previous two years. We are also in a traditionally flat period in the market at the end of winter with an upcoming general election," he said.
Mr Hume said the home building industry was still "very busy" although not expected to continue at the frantic levels experienced over the past few years.
Simon Anderson, chief executive of Realty Services which operates Bayleys and Eve's Realty, said Tauranga's housing market had returned to normal levels.
"We are lucky in Tauranga to have had a very buoyant market in the past couple of years, and we are now back to a more normal market.
"But normal for us is plenty of listings and activity, and lots of people looking to do things," he said.
Mr Anderson said Tauranga's positive business community, immigration and people keen to settle in the Bay were all helping to drive the housing market.
Nigel Martin, managing director of Mt Maunganui Harcourts, said the market was still ticking over nicely, with a good selection of listings and plenty of interested buyers.
"We're starting to see an increase in listings as we slowly enter the spring market."
Mr Martin said some people may have decided to delay their decisions to buy due to the election but there were still plenty of people checking out listings, and looking at houses.
Anton Jones, from First National Tauranga, said some people had suggested that the local housing market had dropped off but that was not the case.
"The sales activity is always a bit slower in winter and some buyers do tend to wait for spring. But there are still plenty of people prepared to make offers and buy if it's the right property and they can get it at the right price."
The local housing market was "not going to go pear-shaped" anytime soon.
Greg Purcell from Ray White Papamoa could not be contacted for comment.