Pahiatua cheapest town for housing

Pahiatua township.

Pahiatua is the region's cheapest town to purchase a house while Greytown is home to Wairarapa's priciest digs.

The latest QV New Zealand Herald Property Report, released last week, shows the average house sale price in the Wellington region, which includes the Wairarapa, dropped 0.2 per cent between July and September to $446,281, while Auckland region prices jumped 4.8 per cent to $676,053.

The cheapest area to buy a house in Wairarapa was Pahiatua with a median house price of $150,500, while the most expensive area was Greytown at $292,000.

The median house price in Masterton was $185,000.

Meanwhile, PropertyIQ figures show first home buyers have accounted for 22 per cent of all residential sales in Masterton, 18 per cent in South Wairarapa and 16 per cent in Carterton since the beginning of 2012.

West Auckland had the highest proportion of first home buyer sales at 29 per cent, compared with just 6 per cent in the Coromandel.

Property Brokers Wairarapa regional manager Paul Joblin said Reserve Bank lending restrictions introduced on October 1 were going to have a dramatic effect on the local market. But the impact wouldn't be felt until after Christmas.

"It's going to take a little while for it to flow through."

A budget of $150,500 in Pahiatua would get you a three-bedroom family home, while $292,000 in Greytown could buy a "good, solid" three bedroom home or a slightly better two bedroom townhouse.

However, the QV median price of $185,000 for Masterton was "dreadfully low".

"What that tells me is that not a lot of expensive houses have been selling."

Nationally, QV figures showed Herne Bay in Auckland retained its top spot as the country's most expensive suburb, rising 3.5 per cent to a median house price of $1.77 million.

Waitakere City's average house price experienced the biggest regional jump of 6.5 per cent, while Napier prices saw the biggest fall, declining 0.5 per cent.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said buyer behaviour had changed markedly since the Reserve Bank's home loan restrictions came into force on October 1.

"Some buyers [have been] horribly depressed ... they're all having to go back to the drawing board a bit. And some of them are changing their buying parameters."

There were "real concerns" in regional New Zealand.

"In the regions there's a significant report that first home buyers have dropped out of the market entirely while they're working on their deposits."

Regional home owners looking to upgrade were also struggling to turn their equity into a 20 per cent deposit, she said.

Property Report editor Tony Verdon said while the number of properties listed had increased over the last six months, agents were still lamenting the lack of quality listings.

"The number of homes sold in markets such as Whangarei and Rotorua has increased significantly, although price levels have yet to markedly lift," he said. APNZ