"With 209 sales throughout the 2018 year and a median price that fell 7.7 per cent from $1.3m to $1.2m, Grey Lynn fell out of the top 10," REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said.
This left "space for Henderson to make its way further up the rankings" with 32 more sales in 2018 than 2017 and a $15,000 increase in median price.
"With plenty of parks, great views of the Waitakere Ranges, access to some of the amazing West Coast beaches and an off-peak drive of 21 minutes into the city, it's easy to see why Henderson has made its way up the list," Norwell said.
There was no change among the top five suburbs, however, as Remuera, continued to be the country's most valuable area with 412 properties selling for a combined $908m in 2018.
This was down on the suburb's $1 billion in total sales in 2017.
Auckland Central where more than 1200 properties sold in each of the last two years was the second most valuable area, followed by Flat Bush, Mt Eden and Epsom.
"With median prices hovering around the $1.8m mark and a reasonably solid number of sales, it's not surprising that Remuera has remained Auckland's highest sale volume suburb for the last three years running," Norwell said.
"The same is true for Auckland Central. The more than 1200 sales is what has allowed the CBD to keep its second place in the list for three years running despite a median price in the mid-to low $400,000s."
Norwell said that while people might expect to see flashy Takapuna, Herne Bay or Saint Mary's Bay in the top 10, the suburbs didn't make it because they typically only had a low number of sales each year.
The Herald's OneRoof property site earlier used separate data by analysts Valocity to report how Remuera was no longer New Zealand's only billion dollar suburb.
But while total sales dropped in the prestigious suburb, it remains streets ahead of any other region in the country, partly because of the high value of its individual homes and partly because of how many homes are in the suburb.
Six of the houses with the 10 highest sales prices last year were also located in Remuera, including a mansion on the main road that went for $25.5m.
Remuera total sales values are also not far off Australia's top suburb of Mosman in Sydney.
About 600 homes and apartments sold in Mosman last year for just over A$1.4b. The total was helped by 20 homes selling for over A$10m each, including one for a suburb record of A$25m.
Aussie agents argue the suburb gives better bang for buck than the next highest suburb of Vaucluse where total sales hit A$590m last year.
