ASB economist Jane Turner said nationally, February housing turnover was up 37% on a year ago, but "overall activity remains relatively subdued".
"Housing turnover continues to gradually recover, with an 8% lift during February, building on small increases over the previous three months," Ms Turner said in a statement.
Nationally, the volume of house sales was up by 37%, or 1666 sales, compared with the corresponding time last year, and it is the best February result the market has recorded since 2008, the REINZ said.
The national median house price remained steady for the third consecutive month at $355,000 and is up $5000, or 1.4%, compared with February 2011.
" While the volume increase is significant, it is worth noting that the February 2012 result is just 65.9% of the 9357 sales recorded in February 2007," the REINZ said.
Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said the housing market maintained its strong upward trend in February helped by improving household incomes, low mortgage rates, and constrained supply.
"House price inflation remains relatively modest, and is dominated by Auckland and Canterbury, the two regions with the most obvious supply constraints, but is still on track for our forecast of an overall 3.5% increase this year," he said in a statement yesterday.
REINZ data on the separate Central Otago and Queenstown regions, when combined, revealed the highest number of sales since December 2007, but median sales prices were down around $41,000 on February last year.
Queenstown's median price was down to $517,500, from almost $570,000 a year earlier but sales were up from 38 a year ago to 60. Central Otago's median jumped from $315,000 to $362,500 and sales were also up, from 45 to 61.
Conversely the separate, wider, Otago region recorded the lowest increase in sales volumes, increasing from 218 in February last year to 232, at a median price of $239,750, up slightly on $235,500 a year earlier.
Dunedin sales fell from 177 a year ago to 170, but median prices rose from $245,000 to $258,500.
Otago region spokeswoman Liz Nidd it was "significant" that median days to sell had fallen from 49 last year to 34, helped by a "trickle" of former Christchurch people to the region.
"Some people have missed out on [buying] homes and they're now making decisions more quickly," she said.
REINZ analysis of the Central Otago and Queenstown regions showed while the median price was down $41,000 on a year ago, sales numbers were up noticeably.
"The overall trend in prices across the region is flat, with the February data pulling the trend line down again", the analysis said.
For the Otago region, REINZ said "overall, the trend for Otago in improving".
Quotable Value (QV) also released its February data yesterday, saying nationwide residential property values had continued to gradually increase.
Values are up 1.1% over the past three months, 2.9% up during the past year, and were now 2.9% below the previous market peak of late 2007.
However, QV research director Jonno Ingerson said although national values were up 2.9% during the past year, that had to be compared with previous periods of value growth.
In 2003 alone, values had increased by a "staggering" 25%.
"In comparison, the current rate of value increase is very modest and in inflation-adjusted terms is only just above level," Mr Ingerson said in a statement.
