According to OneRoof's September House Price Report, the average property price in Whanganui is currently sitting at $578,000, down from $604,000 three months ago.
In Rangitīkei, average prices fell from $564,000 to $554,000.
Ruapehu jumped to $462,000, up from $458,000.
Verma said he couldn't see the decreases going too much further in Whanganui.
"There is an increasing population, and still not enough houses.
"I also think vendors with high expectations and last year's mindset probably need to realign themselves with the current market."
Bayleys Whanganui's principal agent and sales manager Michael Bourne said the turning point in house prices occurred in late December last year, with interest in properties starting to decline.
Now was a good time for first-home buyers, with far more properties for sale, and average days on the market for vendors "stretching out".
"As such, more vendors are potentially willing to enter into negotiations," Bourne said.
"Vega [financial advisers], who are part of the Bayleys team here, are seeing an uplift in applications from first home buyers. That is happening across the country."
Shorter term interest rates - 12 to 18 months - remained quite stable and had been dropping in some instances, Bourne said.
"Interest rates were put up to slow the housing market, and that's exactly what's happened.
"That FOMO [fear of missing out] disappeared, and was replaced by the fear of overpaying instead.
"For those that want to sell, they've had to become conditioned to the market by pricing their property more attractively."
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said there had been an 11 per cent decrease in purchases by first-home buyers in Whanganui for the first half of the year compared with 2021.
The Manawatū-Whanganui region had experienced a drop of 20 per cent.
The "biggest plunges" in house prices had been in rural and higher-value areas, Vaughan said.
First-home buyers were typically paying around $570,000 for property in the region.
That number stood at $350,000 in the first half of 2019.
"While that might be seen as bargain territory in Wellington or Auckland, it's still a lot of money for that market, Vaughan said.
"That's more mortgage debt to take on, more of a deposit, and the rising interest rates have made the costs of borrowing that much more expensive."
In comparison, first-home buyers in Auckland were paying a median price of $1.05 million in 2022.
Holding off for too long to see if prices dropped further could be dangerous, Vaughan said.
"The market might start to pick up again, so first-home buyers are in a bit of a bind at the moment.
"The frantic situation they were finding themselves in last year, where prices were accelerating at an enormous rate - that factor is no longer there, though.
"It's unlikely we'll see that kind of price-rise again any time soon."
No-one had a crystal ball, so it was hard to tell when prices would be at their lowest, Verma said.
"You can only know that when things start moving up again.
"I think the best thing is to be in the market, because then you've got a chance.
"If you don't have to sell any time soon, then you just ride the waves of the ups and downs."
