Latest residential house price figures show demand for homes is growing in the Bay's two major markets.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's (REINZ) February statistics show more homes were sold in the Bay that month compared to January.
In the breakdown, 81 homes sold in Napier city in February this year, compared to 66 in January and 84 in February 2009.
In Hastings city, 74 houses sold in February, up from the 52 in January and the 69 in February 2009.
Median house prices jumped in Napier to $330,000 in February compared to $302,750 in January and $310,500 in February 2009.
In Hastings there was a drop in the median price to $273,250 in February from $302,500 in January but up on the $253,000 recorded in February 2009.
REINZ Hawke's Bay representative Murray Keane described the market as "balanced".
"We are heading towards seeing more buyers but things are still a little bit fickle," he said.
"The good news is that it's taking fewer days to sell a house, it's dropped from 53 to 45 in Hawke's Bay and if we go back over the last few months we can see that trend. It's quite a good sign.
"In the smaller areas, towns are struggling with sales. Waipawa for example just had one sale in February and in Waipukurau things are a bit quiet."
The poor weather had played a part in keeping prospective buyers out of the market during January but was not the only factor which had influenced sales, he said.
"Prices are coming back ... We've seen a few sold signs around Havelock North and we can see buyers are being satisfied," he said.
"This is a good time to buy and sell. Traditionally autumn time from now through to May and June should see reasonable levels of sales, that's my prediction.
"There was a perception houses in Hawke's Bay double (in value) every 10 years but some times it's taken 12 years.
"What we are getting now is moderate growth which is what we prefer, going up at a rate we can easily cope with."
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