Last year, property prices skyrocketed throughout the country and Otago and Southland were no stranger to that growth.
Earlier this week, property data company CoreLogic released its house price index for December, which showed the average price for houses in New Zealand was now $1,006,632 and record-breaking annual market growth of 27.4%.
Locally, prices rose by 22.6% last year in Dunedin to $713,773.
In Queenstown, average prices rose 30% to just over $1.5million and in Invercargill 23.5% to $468,671.
Harcourts Cromwell sales manager Peter Bennetts did not expect to see the same rate of growth in the region this year.
But he did expect the shortage of houses to continue because people would not be able to fund upgrades due to banks’ current lending restrictions.
"Banks have certainly tightened their belts and they are very thorough with lending criteria," Mr Bennetts said.
That would mean funding would be harder to get and it would change the type of buyers in the market, he said.
The local property market would also see the impacts of the Government’s "handbrakes" to slow down growth.
"We are still seeing very strong prices, but... there is always going to be a market for those wanting to buy and sell."
As more houses were built this year as part of development projects, such as Cromwell’s Wooing Tree development, there would be less pressure on the housing stock.
"It is exciting to see the Wooing Tree Development coming along, and yes, I think that will help the stock, particularly here in central and Cromwell," Mr Bennetts said.
CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall said there was a persistently strong demand for residential property last year.
Early indications showed the market would slow down this year, though a drop in house prices was not likely.
Prospective first-home buyers might want to try provincial centres, which had a lower range of average property values, he said.
"The likes of Invercargill, the average price there is still under $500,000."
Mr Goodall reminded buyers that these figures were averages and there were still $400,000 properties in the main centres.
"There's a lot of information and it does pay to do your research and then look into what's happening in your local market."
Talking to the bank or broker early would help potential buyers find out whether they could be pre-approved, he said
"You can see where you sit in the market and then go out and start looking at properties."
