Auckland loses most expensive property market title

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

The Bay of Plenty has taken top spot as the most expensive housing market in the country with demand being driven by people looking for luxury homes.

Auckland has lost its decade-long position as New Zealand’s most expensive property market, with the Bay of Plenty overtaking it for the first time in a decade.

New Trade Me Property data showed the national average asking price cooled to a one-year low in December, while the Bay of Plenty climbed to the top of the regional leaderboard with an average asking price of $963,000 - $11,000 above Auckland.

Trade Me Property customer director Gavin Lloyd said the shift marked a significant milestone for the housing market.

“For the first time in recent history, we’ve seen the Bay of Plenty take the top spot as the most expensive region in the motu,” Lloyd said.

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“This is a massive result for the region, especially considering Tāmaki Makaurau dipped below the million-dollar mark for the first time since August.”

The Trade Me Property’s price index shows a 1.4% overall increase in houses prices across the country for the last year.

Auckland has held the title of New Zealand’s most expensive region for the past 10 years, but Lloyd said the gap between it and other high-priced regions has been narrowing for some time.

“Ten years ago the difference between Auckland and the next most expensive region was over $300,000, but by 2025 it had narrowed to roughly $100,000 to $150,000,” he said.

“In the last couple of years, the Bay of Plenty has almost always been ranked the second most expensive region, so it’s less of a shock and more of a natural progression,” he said.

Shifts in buyer demographics were a key driver behind the change, Lloyd said.

In Auckland, the proportion of properties priced under $800,000 — usually the first-home buyer bracket — had grown, while the share of listings over $2 million was dropping.

Lloyd said by contrast, the Bay of Plenty was seeing a surge in the luxury market. In December, the region recorded a higher percentage of properties priced over $2m than Auckland, suggesting demand is increasingly driven by buyers seeking premium lifestyle properties rather than first-home buyers.

Nationally, the average asking price fell to $800,700 in December, down 6% month-on-month and the lowest level since December 2024. Despite the drop, prices remain 1.4% higher than a year earlier.

Lloyd said the national decline was typical for the summer holiday period, when many New Zealanders shift focus away from house hunting.

“While seeing Auckland ‘dethroned’ is notable, the broader national decline to a one-year low is a typical reflection of the summer holiday period,” he said.

“However, it is encouraging to see the market ahead of where we were last December, suggesting a baseline of stability as we kick off a new year.”

The data also highlighted widening differences across regional markets. Canterbury recorded an annual increase of 7.5%, lifting its average asking price to $713,600, while Nelson/Tasman rose 5.5% to $831,000.

Several regions, however, experienced significant declines. Gisborne recorded the sharpest fall, with asking prices down 34.2% year-on-year to $463,100. Marlborough fell 5.5% to $725,650, while Wellington’s average asking price declined 5.2% to $727,700.

Lloyd cautioned against reading too much into Gisborne’s headline drop, noting the region’s smaller market size.

“Despite the sharp price drop, underlying demand remains incredibly strong,” he said, pointing to a 44% year-on-year surge in search activity in December, compared with just a 3% increase in supply.

He said the clear appetite from buyers suggests the current price dip may be a temporary fluctuation rather than a lack of interest.