Over the year to the September quarter, New Zealand house prices increased 9 percent. According to REINZ, house prices have increased particularly strongly in Auckland and Christchurch, with annual rates of 17 and 8 percent respectively (figure 2). House price inflation in the rest of New Zealand is running at around 3 percent. Some of the stronger regions include Nelson, New Plymouth and Queenstown.
As a consequence of these rises, national house prices are now 11 percent higher than at the peak of the boom. Auckland prices are 26 percent above their previous peak. Figure 2: House price inflation by region, three-month moving average  Source: REINZ.