Median house prices across the Bay of Plenty were a bit of a mixed bag during January, according to new Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures.

In Tauranga the median house price was $540,000 last month, down 10.5 per cent ($60,000) when compared to December 2016. But across the harbour in Mount Maunganui/Papamoa, the median price was $632,500 in January, up 2.8 per cent ($17,500) when compared to the month previous.

But in both Tauranga and Mount/Papamoa, the median house price in January rose 20.4 per cent ($100k) and 8.7 per cent ($52.5k) respectively when compared to January 2016.

REINZ Regional Director Philip Searle notes the tone across the market 'is mixed”, but there definitely less activity in the Bay of Plenty, especially from investors, during January.

Last month 78 houses were sold in Tauranga, down 43 and 60 sales when compared to December and January 2016 respectively. Over in Mount/Papamoa, 80 houses were sold in January, down by five and four sales compared to December/January 2016 respectively.

In the Eastern Bay of Plenty, January's median price of $342,500 was down 5.8 per cent ($20,500) compared to December 2016, but up 13.2 per cent ($42,500) on January 2016. In total, 40 houses were sold in January, which was down by 10 and 13 sales compared to December and January 2016 respectively.

In Rotorua, January's median price of $326,500 was up 10.1 per cent ($31,500) compared to December, and also up 20.8 per cent ($61,500) on January 2016. In total, 62 houses were sold, which was down by 50 and 49 sales when compared to December and January 2016 respectively.

While across New Zealand, median house prices have risen 9.4 per cent year-on-year to $490,000.

In total there were 4307 sales across the country during January, which was down 6 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to December 2016, but was in line with expectations for this time of year.