Bay of Plenty's median house prices are continuing to rise with figures showing prices reaching record highs for the third consecutive month.

Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand today show property prices in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region for December 2013 rose $25,750, or eight per cent, from $320,750 in 2012 to $346,500 in 2013.

The median price increased by $6500, or 1.9 per cent, in a month from $340,000 in November 2013.

In Tauranga house prices for December continued an upward trend reaching $403,000. It is an increase on the $389,500 price tag in November and up $54,000 on December 2012's $349,000.

Mount Maunganui/Papamoa is also showing strong signs with a median price of $433,000, increasing from $415,000 in November 2013 and $405,000 in December 2012.

Compared to December 2012, sales volumes throughout the region are up nine per cent, with strong growth shown in Mount Maunganui/Papamoa and Tauranga. But stacking up next to November 2012 sales plummeted 17 per cent and on a seasonally adjusted basis sales for the region fell four per cent.

REINZ chief executive Helen O'Sullivan notes the big fall in volume compared to November, and a record median high may indicate buyers at the lower price points are still uncertain and recent activity is 'disproportionately weighted to sales of higher priced properties”.

Nationwide, residential sales volumes continue to fall in December while overall prices continue to firm, with an all-time new median at $427,000 – a 0.5 per cent increase or $2000, above the previous record set in November 2013.

For the month of December 5688 houses were sold nationally, down 1.1 per cent on December 2012.

'It is yet too early to be specific about the underlying trends but there is growing evidence that the Reserve Bank's LVR guidelines may be impacting sales volumes and distorting median prices in some regions.”

Helen says the softer trend in sales noted in November 2013 continued into December. But she adds December's shorter selling month means a drop from November sales volumes is a normal part of the seasonal pattern.

'However, the 10 year average fall is 13.6 per cent, while this year sales volumes have declined 18.3 per cent from November. While a small number of regions bucked the trend, other parts of the country recorded significantly greater falls in volume than the national figure.”

In December 1186 houses were sold at auction representing 20.9 per cent of all sales and an increase of 7.6 per cent on the number sold by auction in December 2012. The Waikato/Bay of Plenty accounted for 10.1 per cent of the national total.

The region's days to sell remain steady at 42 days compared to November while compared to December 2012 the number of days to sell improved by 10 days.