Auckland house prices back over $1m, buyer demand surges 40%
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Auckland has reclaimed its crown as the country’s most expensive housing market region as property asking prices climbed back above the $1 million mark in January.
The new year has also bought an increase in demand after the traditional summer lull.
Trade Me Property’s Property Pulse report showed the national average asking price rose 7% month-on-month to $857,000 in January, leaving it flat compared with the same time last year.
But in Auckland, the average asking price jumped more than 9% from December to $1,040,150, pushing the region back to the top spot after it was briefly overtaken by the Bay of Plenty at the end of 2025.
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Trade Me Property customer director Gavin Lloyd said it was notable to compare the movements in Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.
“In Auckland we’ve seen a solid bump on the average asking price from December, however prices remain 3.5% behind where they were in January 2025,” Lloyd said.
“In the Bay of Plenty we see the opposite, with prices flat (-0.5%) month-on-month but up more than 4% year-on-year.”
Lloyd said the differing movements reflected the make-up of each market. Auckland had seen an increase in properties priced under $800,000 – the first-home buyer bracket – while the Bay of Plenty had experienced a surge in luxury listings, with a higher proportion of homes priced above $2m.
Outside those two regions, only Nelson/Tasman (-0.4%), Marlborough ( -0.2%) and Northland (-2.6%) recorded month-on-month price declines.
Lloyd said buyer activity had strengthened markedly in January, with search activity on Trade Me Property up 40% compared with December and 23% year-on-year.
He said the new year had brought a clear lift in market energy, particularly from prospective buyers returning from holiday and reassessing their next move.
The strongest month-on-month increases in search interest were recorded in Wellington, up 58% since December and 19% from the same time last year, Auckland, up 45%, also up 19% year-on-year, and Canterbury, where interest climbed 43%, up 28% since January 2025..
Supply levels rebounded from December but were still 8% lower than January 2025.
Several smaller regions started the year at record highs. The West Coast reached a new peak average asking price of $518,400, up 5% year-on-year and 11% on December.
Southland also hit a record high of $563,000, up 2% annually and up 11% month-on-month.
Lloyd said both regions were stand outs in the current market.
“It’s fantastic to see strong performance across both regions, which each offer a lifestyle and level of affordability that is becoming increasingly attractive to a wide range of buyers, from first-home hunters to those looking for a change of pace,” he said.
In Gisborne, the average asking price surged to a record $737,300 in January, up more than 9% year-on-year and 5.9% since December.
Lloyd said that as a smaller market with lower stock volumes, Gisborne’s prices could fluctuate more sharply than in the main centres.