Property Brokers Hawke's Bay manager Paul Whitaker said CHB seasonal workforce affected the market negatively over winter. He also said the sales volume had been low overall, and an inadequate sample size could be skewing statistics.
He said his long term outlook for the region was positive, and the dam proposal could bring many jobs to CHB, reducing the slump to a "short term blip".
Tremain's Real Estate managing director Simon Tremain said he was surprised CHB values were down so much, because the momentum behind the dam proposal made the risk to reward ratio good.
Cox Partners Estate Agents managing director Malcolm Cox said CHB was affected by some economic uncertainty, as were many small regions and towns.
Napier's value rise was a welcome relief after low prices for quite some time, Mr Cox said.
QV registered valuer Bevan Pickett said the property market in Napier and Hastings was stable and showing limited movement.
"There is an element of positive sentiment apparent in both the Hastings and Napier markets."
There was optimism despite new building consent numbers being relatively low, and mortgagee sales still occurring, Mr Pickett said.
He said investors and first home buyers were becoming active, and well-priced and well-presented homes across most price ranges were attracting good market responses.
"But there still appears to be a general lack of good quality listings."
QV operations manager Kerry Stewart said national values were continuing to increase, but these would be constrained mainly to Auckland and Christchurch.
