Tauranga and Rotorua are topping the charts with more property sales than any other district in the region for the past few months.
But is the boiling property market starting to simmer down?
Bay of Plenty agents say although multi-offers and low-interest rates still exist the rush to buy property is easing and there was "definitely a change in the air".
As listings tighten people were waiting to list their properties until they could buy one to move into.
The latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand report showed Tauranga has reached another record median house price of $937,500, climbing 34.8 per cent to $695,000 in the year to April.
Rotorua's median house price has jumped 24.8 per cent year-on-year to $630,000 from $505,000 with a slight 3.1 per cent drop from $650,000 in March.
There were 261 properties sold in Tauranga in April and 91 in Rotorua - the most in the Bay of Plenty.
Regional director Neville Falconer said listings were still tight for the region, down 16.1 per cent from March.
Falconer said tight listings were leaving some vendors with FONFA – the Fear Of Not Finding Anything - meaning they are reluctant to sell until they find somewhere to move.
Investor activity had not slowed too much in April, with professional investors still eager to secure good properties, he said.
"However, mum and dad investors are rethinking their purchases and have eased off slightly.
"Access to finance continues to be an issue, particularly for first-home buyers as the processing of requests is slow and the market is still moving at a quick pace with days to sell at just 30 days."
Managing director of the Realty Group Ltd, which operates Eves and Bayleys, Simon Anderson, said there was definitely more resistance from buyers.
The lack of stock available meant unless buyers had already made plans to either move out of an area or into retirement people were choosing to wait longer for the right property, he said.
"We are starting to move into the winter months when there are lower listings anyway. People tend to hang back until spring.
"My gut feeling is once we come out of winter we will be back to a more level 5 per cent growth."
Anderson said there was also strong interest from investors weighing up whether to sell their rentals for commercial property, however, there was a lack of commercial stock too.
Tremains managing director Anton Jones said while they were still seeing big sales and large open home numbers, things were starting to return to normal.
"Historically listings dry up in winter but ... things are returning to normal and there is definitely a change in the air."
First National Real Estate Tauranga general manager Cameron Hooper said the fear of not finding anything had been a trend for months.
"It's a big part of the agents' lives now."
Hooper said it also felt like the frenzy was slowing down.
"We've noticed the market is definitely changing. I think we will see things start to flatten off over the next two to three months."
First National principal and Rotorua REINZ spokeswoman Ann Crossley said vendors were fearing not being able to find something before they sold.
"But subject to sale makes it difficult to buy something else ... It's a catch-22.
"We're trying to look at strategies to help people on the market, protect them from being homeless but putting them in a position where they can compete and buy something."
Crossley said multi-offers and low-interest rates had not changed but there was no longer the "feeling of frenzy".
She expected the city's median sale price to hover between $600,000 and $660,000 for a while.
"Maybe it feels a little calmer."
Rotorua Professionals McDowell Real Estate co-owner Steve Lovegrove said the slight drop in median price was because of the type of property being sold.
More "first-home buyer stock" was being sold as investors put their properties back into the buyer pool.
The number of sales could have also been a "seasonal" impact with April including the school holidays and Easter and the cooler months creating an "artificial slowdown", he said.
"We're undecided if it was that or if we really are beginning to see a reduced number of buyers in the marketplace."
Tremains Rotorua sales manager Megan Davies said the fear of not finding anything had been an issue for months with lower stock levels.
"Some vendors think they will wait for spring before approaching an agent, but this may not do them any favours.
"The lower stock numbers will keep prices higher in winter ..."
Davies said first-home buyers were being "severely hampered" by conditions including bank valuations and building reports.
"They should work closely with their lenders to be as clean as possible and talk to their agent.
"Regularly vendors exiting the market will take a first-home owner over an investor and sometimes for significantly lower money."
There were fewer auctions in April but properties were achieving significantly higher average prices, she said.
"We had a good month – a record in fact for our clearance rate."
Harcourts Rotorua sales manager Michelle Matthews said buyer activity had increased with first-home buyers enjoying less competition as investors re-evaluate how to restructure their business moving forward.
"Once this is done, which we are now starting to see, they will back, as they always are.
"At this stage, we haven't noticed a huge increase of Investors choosing to sell any of their portfolio, with others just ignoring the change and business as usual."
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