The housing boom continues unabated.
Median price gains in Auckland and the Central Otago Lakes regions are the highest in the country, up 16% and 11% respectively, while nationally, prices rose 6%.
The lack of listings in Auckland was the ''main impetus'' driving prices, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said.
''The continuing strong performance of Auckland prices is vexing commentators and policymakers alike. However, the root cause of the problem remains a shortage of property available for sale,'' she said in a statement.
Listings across Auckland remained ''very low'' by historical standards and with continued high demand, prices were inevitably moving upwards, she said.
If Auckland's contribution to national housing prices was stripped out, the national price compared to January last year gain would fall from a 6% gain to a 1.8% gain.
The national median price compared with January a year ago was up $24,000 to $426,000, while Auckland's rose to $660,000 and Central Otago Lakes gained 11.2% to $475,000. The Queenstown sub-region of the lakes area rose 8.7% to $532,500.
Otago and Dunedin reflected much of other, flat, regional results, the province's median price down 3.8% to $250,000 and the city down 2.2%, to $267,000.
All regions recorded a decline in sales from December, which is traditional over the holiday period.
REINZ regional director in Dunedin, Liz Nidd, said there was a big increase first-home buyer interest in January, while investor demand remained ''steady''.
