The country is facing its lowest level of housing availability in nearly a decade, as demand continues to outstrip supply.
Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The latest figures from realestate.co.nz show the inventory of houses for sale in September was at its lowest in eight years.
Spokesperson Vanessa Taylor said although there were more houses going up for sale, they were selling at their fastest rate since the company started keeping records eight years ago.
Ms Taylor said high demand continued to push prices up and fuel high turnover.
"It is good for the sellers, and what it generally means is if it's a sellers' market it pushes the average asking price up.
"We've seen quite a shift in the average asking price, it's been quite consistently high across New Zealand, there are only a few areas where it's dipped this month."
Ms Taylor said the shortage was most extreme in Auckland and other main centres including Wellington, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.