The Far North fared slightly better, with a 1.4 per cent drop overall. Some areas - Cable Bay, Coopers Beach and Taipa - had a slight increase of 0.1 to 0.2 per cent.
The average property price in Northland has fallen from more than $900,000 three months ago to $881,000.
Nationally, the average price fell by 3.7 per cent to $1.023m.
Mortgage broker Sandeep Maisuriya, of Zest Brokers in Whangārei, said the market was better for first-home buyers than last year.
"I would say easier than before, but I would still not say that it is completely a buyers' market.
"Compared to other regions or cities like Auckland, we're definitely somewhat holding our prices."
Auckland prices fell 4 per cent in the last quarter, and unlike Northland, were lower than one year ago.
It had become easier for first-home buyers to get approval for mortgages but were often reluctant to spend as much as they were approved for, Maisuriya said, due to fears of further interest rate hikes.
Sandeep Maisuriya of Zest Brokers says first-home buyers are in a better position than they were a year ago, even with higher interest rates. Photo / Michael Cunningham
"The customer can afford XYZ but the customers are not necessarily buying in at that price point - they are starting lower so they are not stretched to the max."
Wayne Shum, head of research at Valocity, said more houses were being sold to first-home buyers than earlier this year.
"First-home buyers were hit hard by the lending landscape and their share of the market declined from over 40 per cent pre-Christmas 2021 to 36.7 per cent in March.
"However, lower property prices have helped first home buyers' share recover to 39.7 per cent in August this year."
Eves Whangārei general manager Tanya Swain said houses were taking longer to sell, but price drops were not drastic.
"It's still a mixed bag, to be honest. You've still got some investors out there looking but not as many."
Eves had recently sold a property for more than $2m, Swain said.
She advised selling by auction to a cash buyer as conditional offers were still falling over due to issues with finance.
There had also been changes in the rental market, Swain said, with several vendors she knew of renting homes after trying and failing to sell them. There were also landlords looking to sell up.
"What we have noticed is people have been making decisions about family moving in so they can save for a house or they're making a decision around Healthy Homes - whether to keep or sell."
Northland house prices were still 8.8 per cent higher than a year ago, the OneRoof-Valocity data showed.
Over the last quarter, property prices fell in every region of the country, apart from the West Coast. The steepest fall was in the Wellington region, with prices down 7.3 per cent in three months.
And James Wilson, head of valuations at Valocity, said prices would likely continue their decline.
"Cost of living pressures and strong signals from the Reserve Bank that further interest rate rises are on the cards have dampened buyer enthusiasm, and as long as supply continues to outpace demand, price growth is unlikely to return anytime soon.
"Continued falls over the quarter suggest the market hasn't hit the bottom yet."
