The Bay of Plenty has broken the $500,000 ceiling in average asking price, with Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury and Central Otago also reaching new record highs.

A number of regions across the country experienced new record highs in average asking price in January, though this was off the back of a record low in inventory and a decline in new listings, according to data from Realestate.co.nz.

Houses prices are continuing to climb.

'National inventory in January hit a new all-time low of 14.7 weeks. The previous all-time low was 16.1 weeks set in October 2015,” says Brendon Skipper, Chief Executive of Realestate.co.nz.

'In addition, the total number of new listings across the country in January was 8144, down 14.6 per cent compared to the same month a year ago. The record highs in average asking price in a number of regions need to be seen in the context of fewer listings and tightening inventory.”

The national average asking price in January was $542,514, up 3.7 per cent from December and ending a four month consecutive decline, though still short of the all-time high of $568,215 set in August 2015.

The average asking price in Auckland fell 2.3 per cent to $828,629 in January from $848,195 in December, though Auckland also experienced a decline in listings of 18.4 per cent from the same month last year.

Eight regions experienced new record highs in average asking price in January.

In particular, Central Otago reached $861,723, the highest average asking price of any region, and an increase of 4.5 per cent from the previous high of $824,394 set in December, though new listings were down 35 per cent from January last year.

Bay of Plenty reached a new high of $501,961, up 3 per cent from the previous high of $487,052 set in November, and only the fourth region in the country to break the $500,000 ceiling. New listings for the region in January were down 7.6 per cent from a year ago.

Other parts of the country to experience new record highs in average asking price include Wellington, Canterbury, Waikato, Taranaki, Coromandel and Southland, most however also experienced a decline in new listings from the same time last year.

Wellington reached a new all-time high in average asking price of $489,029 in January, up 2 per cent from the previous high of $479,399 set in August last year, while new listings were down 16.9 per cent.

Canterbury experienced a new record of $483,233, up 1.3 per cent from the previous high set in September, with new listings down 13.6 per cent from the same month last year.

Waikato's new record high in average asking price was $440,784, up 6.3 per cent from the previous high set last month of $414,596.

The new record in Taranaki was $373,668, up 1 per cent from the previous high of $369,791 set in February 2015, while Southland ‘s new high was $276,924, up 3.9 per cent from the previous high of $266,398 set in January last year.

New listings in January for all three regions were down from the same month last year.

Coromandel reached a new high of $574, 271, an increase of 3.6 per cent from the previous high of $554,303 set in November.

It was one of the few regions to experience a small increase in the number of new listings of 1.1 per cent from January last year.

Inventory is a measure of the national supply of homes for sale, expressed as the number of weeks it would take for all currently listed properties to sell at average rates, should no new properties get listed. The long-term national average is 34 weeks.