Tauranga average house prices have risen according to the latest QV House Price Index. Photo / File
Property values rose 4.5 per cent in Tauranga and 8 per cent in the Western Bay in the year to March.
The latest monthly QV House Price Index show Tauranga home values rose from an average of $676,381 in March 2017 to $706,922 last month.
Average house values in the Western Bay jumped from $590,608 to $637,801.
The average house value nationwide is $677,618.
QV Tauranga property consultant Steven Dunn said activity in the Tauranga market increased the past two months.
But house prices in many areas of the city, including Otumoetai, stabilised "quite a bit".
"But despite a shortage of listings in areas like Mount Maunganui people we doing more due diligence and seeing what's happening with values before making offers," Dunn said.
Simon Anderson, chief executive of Realty Group, which owns Eves and Bayleys Real Estate, said Tauranga's market had slowed compared to the record heights of 2016.
"What we're seeing in Tauranga is a firm but steady, more normalised market including a lot more interest from first-home buyers," he said.
Anderson said the pendulum had swung back to a more level playing field between sellers and buyers, and people were looking for better value before making an offer.
First National, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga and Omokoroa owner Anton Jones said there was plenty of activity last month from both sellers and buyers.
March was a record month for his agency, including multiple offers on eight to nine properties last week, he said.
"Prices have flattened out a little bit, but our biggest problem is the gap between the buyer and vendors price expectations, he said.
Tauranga Harcourts managing director Simon Martin said his company had a substantial increase in the volume of sales the past three months compared to the previous year.
"But in terms of house values the pressure of prices heading in an upwardly direction had come off because of the extra supply of properties in the market," he said.
Greg Purcell of Ray White Papamoa said prices had flattened out from what they were three years ago, but that was to be expected with increased supply in the market.
Purcell said there was no longer the panic buying of the past but vendors still needed to be realistic in terms of their pricing expectations.
Tauranga: $706,922 average value, 4.5 per cent annual increase
Western Bay: $637,801 average value, 8 per cent annual increase
Rotorua: $419,556 average value, 7.1 per cent increase
Hamilton: $555,549 average value, 4.3 per cent increase
Wellington region: $644,567 average value, 8.2 per cent increase
Auckland: $1,055,992 average value, 1 per cent increase
Two big business donations capped off the six-week fundraising drive.