Late lift for Tauranga house prices

Tauranga's property market experienced a late lift in house sale prices for 2010, with the city's median price shooting up by more than $50,000 last month.

New Real Estate Institute figures show the median house price in Tauranga climbed from $328,150 in November to $379,500 in December - the highest median for that month in more than four years.

But the city's tally of house sales fell from 98 in November to 84 last month, and the figure was also lower than the total 95 homes sold over the same month in 2009.

Another surge in median prices was seen in Mount Maunganui and Papamoa, where the price climbed from $395,000 in November to $410,000 last month, although the median failed to better the $440,000 median of December 2009.

The number of sales made in the coastal strip also dropped sharply, from 75 in November to 49 last month. In the Western Bay country, the median house price fell from $405,000 in November to $367,500, but the figure was slightly better than the district's December 2009 median of $365,000.

Forty-six houses were sold in the district last month, four less than the previous month and seven less than the same month the year before.

John O'Donnell of LJ Hooker Papamoa believed there was a "holding pattern" in the property market, with prices generally failing to slide backward.

Mr O'Donnell said mortgage rates were not expected to change until at least August and there was a good range of homes on the market.

"The reality is that it's the best time to buy a new home in 10 years."

Harcourts Advantage Realty franchise owner Max Martin said a number of sales between $500,000 and $700,000 toward the end of the year had pushed up median values in the city.

"That's a real positive that we can draw from it. We're also getting quite busy now and this month we've had to bring two auctions forward."