House prices up and down across Western Bay<p>

By JOEL FORD
JUST what direction the Western Bay's property market is heading in remains unclear, although latest Quotable Value figures show house prices in the city have increased again.
QV residential property values for the three months ending August grew seven per cent in Tauranga compared with the same period last year.
This comes on the back of a 6.5 per cent increase for the year ending July and a 6.6 per cent rise for June.
Figures released today show the average sale price in the city increased from $425,865 last month to $433,748 this month.
"This increase is a reflection of where the market activity is occurring," said Christopher Boyd of QV Valuations.
"It appears that investor interest in the lower end has cooled with some investors deciding it is time to cash up."
But Mr Boyd said recent anecdotal evidence suggested sales volumes and inquiries were continuing to slow.
Lending institutions were experiencing the lowest levels of activity for a number of years, he said.
Meanwhile, in the Western Bay, residential property values for the three months ending in August dropped 5.5 per cent compared with a 6.2 per cent increase for the year ending in July.
The average sale price in the Western Bay also dropped to $399,390 from $405,491 as recorded for the year ending in July.
Nationally property statistics issued by QV showed a 13.3 per cent growth in national property values for the year to the end of August.
The average house price was $394,397.
Last month Quotable Value reported signs that the real estate boom was slowing. The Real Estate Institute reported the median house price had fallen $5000 between May and July and that July sales were the lowest for the month in six years.
However, QV spokesman Blue Hancock told the Dominion Post year-on-year growth remained strong.
"Reduced winter listings have been matched by less buyer activity, creating a balance in the market and resulting in prices still holding up in most areas," he said.
The Reserve Bank is expected to hold official interest rates at 8.25 per cent on Thursday.
Some economists are not expecting rates to be cut for at least a year, despite a cooling economy, a slowdown in the housing market and a drop in domestic spending.
Retail sales volumes fell 0.6 per cent in the June quarter.
Spending is being hit by a combination of higher mortgage interest rates, slowing migration, a cooling housing market and higher petrol prices, reducing the amount of cash available for other goods.