House values up by selling 'tricky'

To sell a home in the current market, a "rule of thumb" is to drop 5 per cent off its value at the price peak in 2007.
That's the advice on how to succeed in a tricky real estate market from Simon Tremain of Tremains Real Estate.
Mr Tremain says values dropped 15 per cent when the boom ended, but have since recovered about 10 per cent.
The latest Real Estate Institute figures confirm house prices for the region increased 9.4 per cent in the year to May.
The median price rose slightly to $276,000 from $275,500 in April and also beat the median of $259,750 for the same time last year. Last month 181 homes sold in Hawke's Bay, up from 163 sales in April but down from 230 in May 2009.
May last year was the start of the market's recovery, Mr Tremain said, with prices and activity bouncing back in the six months from May to November. But this year he said the market had been flat, although since the Government's Budget announcement there had been more new listings and a lift in buyer enquiry.
"Since the Budget, people are putting homes on the market and getting enquiries, but they need to be priced correctly for the current market."
The Napier median fell from $303,424 in April to $283,750 in May, but showed slight year-on-year growth from the median of $302,250 in May last year. Ninety-four homes changed hands last month, an increase in activity compared with 81 sales in April and 92 the previous May.
Registered valuer Paul Harvey of Williams Harvey said Napier's May results showed the best volume of sales since October last year. From January to April, median sale prices showed 5 per cent growth over last year's median, in contrast to market sentiment that values have been easing this year, Mr Harvey said.
"The May median sale price is more in line with that market sentiment and is in line with value levels of last year."
In Hastings the median dropped to $260,500 from $275,500 in April, but was slightly ahead of the median for the same time last year of $259,750. The number of homes sold was down by one from April at 54, and well down from the 92 sold in May last year.
Mr Harvey said Hastings' May results were "a reasonable reflection of current market sentiment that prices are easing".
There was an increase in the Hawke's Bay Country median price to $332,500 from $240,000 in April and $150,000 the previous May. Fourteen homes sold, up from just seven sales in April, but fewer than the 17 sold the previous May.
Tim Wilkins, registered valuer at Snow Wilkins, said while home owners may not be selling as regularly as during the property boom, they are modernising or extending their existing homes.
"They appear to be taking advantage of cheaper building costs at present and subsidies for insulation."
Nationally, the median price eased to $350,000 in May from $356,000 in April. The number of homes sold was down by one from April at 5206.
 Real Estate Institute president Peter McDonald said: "While slightly down on the April figure and the March median of $360,000, the May median is still 3.7 per cent up from the median price of $337,500 in the same month last year, so we are still not seeing any significant fall in values.
"With tax changes and interest rates now settled, property investors are already talking about returning to the market to cater for the growing demand for domestic rentals."
Countrywide the median number of days it takes to sell a house increased from 40 to 43.