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OPINION:
The red-hot Bay of Plenty property market is proving good and bad - depending on whether you have a foot on the property ladder.
All properties sold in the past three months sold above their original purchase prices, with CoreLogic calculating a median gain of $265,000.
In Rotorua, some homes are selling between $50,000 to $100,000 more than vendors' expectations.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's latest figures show median sale prices in the Bay continue to climb. Tauranga has reached a new record of $810,000, and $580,000 in Rotorua.
The extra dollars are coming from a heated market, which has been supercharged in the past few months.
A shortage of stock and a drop in new listings has meant a mad scramble for property.
Real estate agents across the Bay are reporting packed auction rooms and multiple offers. Some buyers are practically busting down the doors to get the keys to their first home.
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Advertise with NZME.Some open homes have been causing traffic jams in Tauranga and buyers are frantically placing offers on houses within minutes for fear of missing out.
And experts say things are about to get even hotter.
That's good news for sellers but not for first-home buyers - many of whom will now be thinking that homeownership is a distant dream.
They are having to stretch their budgets to make the best offer they can - and, for some, that was still not enough.
They are also in a highly competitive market as people take advantage of rock-bottom interest rates.
Demand for housing in the region has got so strong that people are paying for a place on a priority list for home builds.
Local builders can't bring house and land packages to the market fast enough as demand outruns supply.
Prices for sections are rising rapidly - one builder highlighted the fact this was making it impossible to deliver new homes under the $550,000 Homestart cap.
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Advertise with NZME.The big question is, when will it all stop?
All I can say is I'm glad I entered the property market when I did. We moved in just three weeks before the country went into Covid-19 lockdown, before the latest spike in house prices.
It's scary to think what might have happened if we had waited and I feel for those still struggling to get a foot on the first rung property ladder.