Houses in Hawke's Bay are in hot demand.
Hawke's Bay's property market is going from strength to strength, with median prices and sales volumes rising, and days to sell reducing.
The latest real estate data from REINZ revealed the median house price in Hawke's Bay rose $45,000, to $320,000 last month, compared to August 2015.
Prices rose 21 per cent in Napier to $371,500, 20 per cent in Hastings to $330,200, and 5 per cent in Dannevirke to $160,000.
Compared to July this year the median price rose $10,000 with prices rising 7 per cent in Hastings, 5 per cent in Dannevirke and 2 per cent in Napier. On a seasonally adjusted basis the median price fell 2 per cent compared to July.
Sales volumes in Hawke's Bay also rose, by 7 per cent compared to July, with sales rising 30 per cent in Hastings and 21 per cent in Hawke's Bay Country, but falling across the rest of the region.
Compared to August 2015 sales volumes rose 2 per cent, with sales rising 127 per cent in Dannevirke, 30 per cent in Hastings and 21 per cent in Hawke's Bay Country. On a seasonally adjusted basis sales for August fell 3 per cent compared to July.
Tremains real estate director Cam Ward said they were seeing "exceptionally good" results for properties in the $300,000 to $500,000 range.
"People selling homes at the moment are getting multiple offers," he said, "and we will see the days to sell drop continue."
"As vendors are getting multiple buyers interested . . . people are paying an absolute premium to get a property," he said, adding it was currently a sellers market.
As Hawke's Bay properties were still "the traditional section, and a house," and with a limited amount of new sections, sellers were achieving capital gains and gaining confidence to move up the property ladder.
The median days to sell for Hawke's Bay improved by two days compared to July, from 31 days in July to 29 days in August.
The number of days to sell improved by 14 days compared to August 2015.
However Harcourts managing director Kaine Wilson said there had been more vendors choosing to sell through auctions, or tenders, so they had a set date to sell.
"Because of the quantity of interest in the property, we're seeing tremendous results with multiple offers, with a steady period for people to go through and look at them ," he said.
They were seeing more properties being listed, "its a good sign, a spring sign".
Although there were concerns about a lack of supply, Mr Wilson said these had been around for a while and it was still a little too early to tell.
REINZ spokesman Bryan Thomson said demand remained strong across the Hawke's Bay region with first home buyers and investors active in the market.
"The supply of properties for sale remains restricted with less than 12 weeks supply available," he said.
The national median price dropped by nearly 3 per cent to $492,000 from $505,000 last month.