In February, the average asking price for a house was $520,789, an increase of 4.1 per cent from February last year. Auckland was $958,514, Wellington $682, 671 and Otago $484,547.
Bayleys residential and projects divisional manager Justin Haley said this was a sign of a competitive market.
“In this situation it is not uncommon to see multiple offers on a priced property, pre-auction offers and multiple bidders at auction,” he said.
Realestate.co.nz spokeswoman Vanessa Taylor said the record high is likely to be driven by a stock shortage.
Last month, Canterbury’s housing stock was at 2292, which was a 24.7 per cent decrease from the same month last year. The national figure of 20,875 was also a decrease of 22.3 per cent from February last year.
Ms Taylor speculated that NZ’s lack of housing could be due to the Global Financial Crisis which saw a slump in the building industry.
“In about 2004, New Zealand started to really see an increase in the number of new dwellings being built," she said.
"We weren’t quite keeping up with population growth, but we were certainly taking steps in the right direction.
“When the GFC hit, we stopped building and now we are experiencing the hangover from this quiet period and are struggling to meet the demand for housing.”
Ms Taylor said building homes that are designed for the modern New Zealander could be a solution to the housing shortage.
“Most Kiwis are becoming increasingly time-poor.
"We are looking for ways to cut down our commuting times and we don’t want to spend our precious weekends on housework and garden maintenance."
“High-quality, high-density housing is a global solution that could have great success here, but we first need to change the psyche of Kiwis – many of whom are hanging on to the quarter-acre dream.”
