"Now that we are leading into Christmas, we have got a reasonable amount of stock on the market and there is still quite strong buyer inquiry leading into Christmas so I guess that will create a deadline for people in the next week or two.
"There has been an increase in property listings but that is quite normal for this time of year."
Ian McDowell, managing director of McDowell Professionals, said there had been quite strong demand which would have a small reflection on asking prices.
"We had 81 sales in November and about 90 in October so it has definitely been an improvement on the 60s and 70s we were getting earlier in the year.
"December is also showing good signs with a high number of inquiries so we can only hope this demand continues.
"Houses in the $350,000 to $450,000 range have the most demand which is a good sign for the city.
"There has been an increase in out-of-town buyers as well which shows people see good value in our houses. Hopefully we will see it continue to grow in the coming months."
The average asking price for a New Zealand home broke the $500,000 barrier in November for the first time in market history.
Trade Me Property chief Nigel Jeffries said only the West Coast had reported a fall in price expectation. Throughout the rest of the country, price expectation was steadily increasing.
Trade Me data showed the average asking price for a small 1-2 bedroom house countrywide was about $334,700, a 15.4 per cent rise from November 2013.
The average asking price of a medium 3-4 bedroom house sat at $514,050, which was a 13.2 per cent increase from 2013, while 5+ bedrooms sat at $867,700 apiece.
- Additional reporting Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
