Northland house prices on the rise

Northland house prices have risen.

Northlanders are being asked to fork out more for a house than a year ago, say new figures.

Trade Me's Property Price Index showed the average asking price for a Northland property during the three months to February was $396,400, a 0.7 per cent increase on the same quarter last year.

Home buyers were looking at an average asking price of $285,250 for a 1-2 bedroom house in the February 2015 quarter, while the average asking price for a medium-sized house, 3-4 bedrooms, was $411,450. The average asking price for a large house, 5 plus bedrooms, was $676,000.

The index measured trends in the selling prices for residential property listings added to Trade Me Property by real estate agents and private sellers over the past three months.

Meanwhile, Real Estate Institute data showed 205 houses were sold in Northland last month, an increase of 59 from January and up 30 from February last year.

Maggie Dixon Real Estate managing director Graham Lester said increased sales were putting pressure on prices.

"I wouldn't say [sales have] risen dramatically but there's a lot more activity," he said. "More interest in properties means they're selling closer to the asking price than before and they're selling faster than they were.

Out-of-towners were driving the uplift in sales, he said.

"There are people moving from Auckland because they're sick of living there and a lot from Auckland buying investment properties. They can get a property for a heck of a lot less and get a far better return here than in Auckland.

"There are also a lot of people moving back from overseas, particularly from Australia with the mining industry slowing down a bit there."

Mr Lester expected the market to continue to be busy as there were a lot of properties still available and April 1 increases in subsidies for first-home buyers would make it easier to enter the market.

Nationally, the average listed price in the three months to February bounced back to above $500,000 to $505,350, just below the record high set in November last year. This was a 1.4 per cent on the three months to January and a 12.3 per cent increase year-on-year.

The average asking price for a 1-2 bedroom house in the three months to February was $337,000 (up 14.6 per cent year-on-year), while the average asking price for a 3-4 bedroom house was $511,950 (up 11.6 per cent year-on-year). The price of a five or more bedroom house also increased - up 6.1 per cent to $871,950.