Still buyer's market but for how long?

Househunters in Northland have the advantage, a real estate expert says, as supply outstrips demand - but this could change this year.

QuotableValue (QV) statistics for 2014 showed the average property value for a house in Whangarei was $337,190 - a 0.7 per cent increase on 2013. In the Far North, the average property value was $308,125.

Harcourts Whangarei owner Mike Beazley said the market was slowly starting to shift in the favour of vendors.

"At the moment it has been a buyers' market but it is changing. The market is getting busier and we have got what I would consider to be a solid market," he said.

"There has been an improvement in seller expectation. It is ever so slight at the moment but it is happening. I would think this year there will be a slight changing in the market and it would go towards a sellers' market."

Nationally, average residential property values increased 4.9 per cent or $22,652 during 2014, from $466,022 in December 2013 to $488,674 in December 2014. QV national spokeswoman Andrea Rush said the year was marked by rapidly increasing property values, interspersed with flat periods.

Flat periods were caused by uncertainty surrounding LVR limits (loan-to-value ratio restrictions), interest rate hikes and the election period, she said.

"After a slow start to the year following the introduction of the LVR, values picked up in February and March but then, following four interest rate hikes during March and July, value increases plateaued.

Trade Me data, which looked at average asking prices for property listed on the website, showed vendors were expecting $57,000 more for their properties in December last year than in December 2013.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said the average asking price for a property in New Zealand had consistently increased over the past five years.

"In December, we saw average asking prices across New Zealand increase by almost 13 per cent year-on-year and, over the past five years, the expected property prices have risen more than 26 per cent."NZME.