Bay house prices jump 3.5 per cent year-on-year

Bay of Plenty house prices jumped 3.5 per cent. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty house prices have jumped 3.5 per cent in one year, according to new data.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's latest data showed the region's median house price rose to $592,000 from $572,000 in November last year.

Median house prices in the region also jumped 2.1 per cent in one month to $592,000 last month from $580,000 in October 2018.

In Tauranga, median house prices increased just 0.2 per cent to $656,000 last month from $655,000 the same month a year earlier - but dropped 0.3 per cent in one month from $658,000 in October.

Western Bay of Plenty median house prices dropped 9.3 per cent to $635,000 last month from $700,000 in November last year - but increased 4.1 per cent from $610,000 in October.

Rotorua saw a median house price increase of 3.7 per cent to $420,000 last month from $405,000 the year prior - and 5 per cent from $400,000 in October.

REINZ regional director Neville Falconer said the Bay of Plenty experienced a mixed market during November.

Median prices in Whakatāne up 14 per cent year-on-year yet down 13.8 per cent in Ōpōtiki when compared to the same time last year.

"November was a busy month across the region with the number of sold houses increasing by 17.4 per cent compared to November last year," he said.

Falconer said Tauranga followed its traditional end of spring pattern with a strong upper end of the market, compared to the lower and middle price ranges.

However, there was a decrease in the level of first home buyer interest.

"Open homes for new listings were well attended. However, for the properties that didn't sell within a couple of weeks the vendors might need to adjust their price expectations," he said.

"Overall, its looks to be a normal pre-Christmas rush, and then it will slow down before it
all gets busy again in February."