Regional property prices are surging as New Zealand's main centres continue to slump, according to new figures from Realestate.co.nz.
Five provincial regions saw all-time high average houses for September - Gisborne, Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Bays, Manawatu/ Whanganui and Northland all increased their average asking price.
Gisborne topped the rise with an increase of 5.1 percent to an average asking price of $463,557, while Northland only saw a rise of $260 on the average price from August 2019.
Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor said in a statement $260 may not seem like much but it still broke the record.
The average asking price in the region is now $641,231 according to the new figures.
Taylor told Newshub there's a shortage of supply in those areas driving the market up.
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"When there is a shortage of stock and a shortage of homes coming into the market we do tend to see those prices edge up."
Meanwhile, the main centres saw far more modest rises or even drops in price. Wellington was the only region to see a rise of more than 1 percent.
Average asking prices in the region hit $707,101, a 2.5 percent increase on the previous month. Canterbury saw a rise of 1.0 percent to $513,082.
Auckland's average asking price actually dropped to $916,162.
Taylor said normally prices in the cities have a bit of a springtime bump, but that hasn't happened yet.
"We certainly haven't seen the market bounce back into spring like we usually would. This time last year we saw a deluge of listings right across New Zealand, specifically in our bigger centres."
But she's still hopeful that there will be plenty of buyers for anyone looking to sell.
"There's not a lot of competition out there at the moment with the new listings tightening up right across New Zealand, but there's still certainly plenty of property seekers out there."
