The number of house sales is slowly rising but listings remain in short supply, which is limiting buyer choice.
May sales volumes in Hawke's Bay increased by 18 per cent compared with April 2012, with increasesthroughout the region. Compared with March, sales volume fell by 8 per cent, with a decline of one quarter in Hastings, although sales in Dannevirke increased by more then 60 per cent, the latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show.
The median price increased by $14,000 (+5.2 per cent) compared with May 2012, with prices increasing most in Napier and rising throughout the rest of the region.
Compared with April, the median price increased by $8000 (+2.9 per cent) with prices rising in Hastings, but falling in Napier and falling noticeably in Dannevirke.
The median days to sell for Hawke's Bay eased by three days compared with April, from 48 days in April to 51 days in May. The number of days to sell was steady compared with May 2012. During the past 10 years the median number of days to sell for the region in May has been 47 days.
REINZ chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said "the Hawke's Bay region is seeing a gradual rise in sales volumes".
"However, listings remain in increasingly short supply, which is limiting buyer choice in popular price brackets."
The trend in the median price continued to ease, with the trends for sales volume and days to sell remaining sideways. Overall the trend for the region continued to ease.
Property Brokers Hawke's Bay manager Paul whitaker said now was the time to sell.
"The market is buoyant, listings are short and there hasn't been a better time to sell since 2007," he said.
But sellers may wish to hang on a while. Simon Tremain of Tremain Real Estate says booming prices in Auckland will make their way to the Bay.
"A good market in Hawke's Bay is about 200 sales in the month and the one we had in 2007 was 300," he said.
"The volumes are very solid but we are still not seeing any great movements in price or capital growth entering the market."
Mr Whitaker said although the median sales price had not grown greatly, "across the board prices are firming".
"We will see a flow-on from this - all these first-home buyers that are selling this month will be buying up the chain. Next month, the median will lift as they buy a more expensive house. I think we are going to follow the bigger centres and for prices to flow through."
Mr Tremain said sales volume had been good at all price levels and it was a well-matched market - the numbers of buyers were no more or less than was needed to push prices up or down significantly: "We don't have buyers tripping over themselves but we have a pretty good, solid market."
Auckland's price surge was a result of investors entering the market, he said.
"It's not just normal people buying or selling houses, it's lots of people jumping on the bandwagon because the prices start moving."
He said in winter volumes traditionally dropped "but there is still pretty good buyer demand out there".
"I think we will see good volumes, but it will pull back a bit - people don't like selling their homes in winter."
The number of buyers entering the market would increase as the upward price trend in Auckland spread: "Auckland always goes first and then it does take a while to filter through to the rest of the country."