House prices tumble $20k in year

Wanganui's median house price tumbled more than $20,000 in the past 12 months, a property report says.

Latest figures from the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) recorded a median house price of $170,000 in May, down 11 per cent from $191,000 a year ago.

Wanganui Property Brokers branch manager Philip Kubiak said while the wider housing market was "still tough work", first home-buyers in the city were well placed.

"It's tough for first home buyers in, say, Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, but if you're a first home buyer in Wanganui you can get into a lovely property without too many hassles because of the affordability," he said.

Low interest rates were also attracting buyers, but "month to month there's still a lot of property on the market in Wanganui", Mr Kubiak said.

Elsewhere around the country, according to REINZ, 49 houses sold in Wairarapa last month, down from 51 during the same period last year.

Nationally, house sales in May reached their best levels for the month since 2007.

Auckland and Canterbury's buoyant property markets continued to lead the way - with both regions posting record high median sales prices.

Auckland hit $565,000 for the month and the Canterbury/Westland region registered $360,000.

REINZ chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said the national median house price rose $23,000 in the 12 months to May to reach $392,000 - $8000 below the record median set in March.

And while price gains in other centres have been modest, sales in the Nelson/Marlborough region also set a new median high of $353,625, figures showed.

Auckland's property market - which Ms O'Sullivan said was "driving up house prices at both the regional and national level" - and strong demand in Canterbury continue to cause headaches for financial policy-makers.

The Reserve Bank's monetary policy statement, issued on Thursday, stated Kiwi house prices had increased nationally by 9 per cent between the April 2012 and 2013 quarters.

This was driven by homes in Christchurch and Auckland, which rose in price by 11 and 14 per cent, respectively.

"Outside these areas, prices rose by an average of around 4 per cent, although there is considerable variation among districts."

Despite this, the central bank confirmed interest rates were likely to remain on hold for the rest of the year. However, it signalled it would hike rates if rising house prices spurred a property bubble.

Other data from the REINZ report showed the total value of residential sales across the nation was $3.78 billion in May.

A breakdown of the 7714 properties sold for the month showed about half were valued under $400,000.

Just over a quarter sold for between $400,000 and $599,999 and about 18 per cent of sales were between $600,000 and $999,999.

The remaining 5 per cent topped the $1 million mark.