The quarterly growth also contributed to Rotorua ending the 12-month period with the highest house price growth of any region in the North Island, soaring 27.8 per cent.
Chief executive of Realty Group Simon Anderson said Rotorua was "the darling of the property market".
"That's what it is ... People have finally seen Rotorua as being good value to purchase."
House values in every single Rotorua suburb increased more than 20 per cent in the past year. Lynmore remained the most valuable suburb, rising $100,000 in the year to an average price of $556,300.
Springfield ($482,950), Kawaha Point ($458,150) and Glenholme ($407,650) were the only other three suburbs to have broken the $400k mark. Owhata ($363,800) and Pukehangi ($356,400) were the next most likely.
Fordlands, the lowest priced suburb, led the growth with a 28.8 per cent increase. The average value went from $127,000 to $170,000.
While many suburbs in Auckland lost value in the flattened three months to April, no Rotorua suburbs did.
Professionals McDowell Real Estate's Steve Lovegrove said Rotorua had received "overflow" from the main centres of both investors and residents moving as a lifestyle choice. He said he expected values to continue to increase strongly.
"It's self-perpetuating ... the more the prices go up, the more attractive Rotorua becomes."
Ray White's Anita Martelli agreed that higher sales and prices would attract media attention and as a result, more buyers.
"Everything's positive here. People want to come and live here. People are saying they've looked at other places but they want to move to Rotorua."
However, while value increases were good news for those who already own homes, Mr Anderson said rents had not increased as fast as values, and landlords would be looking to capitalise on the extra value.
"What the increase in values has done is owners are now looking for higher returns, so rents are going up. It's good for owners but it has a negative effect for people looking to rent homes."
