It may have looked like Auckland's out-of-control housing market was cooling off, but latest figures show property prices picked up again in September setting new records.
According to Barfoot & Thompson, the average September sale price jumped 1.9 percent in just one month, to $836,275, while the median sale price increased 4.6 percent to $790,000.
"September was extremely active with sales at 1,358, which were up 3.4 percent on those for August and up 41.6 percent on those for September last year," says Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson.
"Nearly a third of all those homes – 428 – were in excess of $1 million, which is the highest number of $1 million-plus homes we have sold in a month."
Mr Thompson believes the surge in purchases may be down to investors trying to beat new property regulations that came into effect this month.
However, he also said a lift in sales is typical for springtime.
"New listings at 1,940 were the highest in a September for 12 years, and created a reasonable level of choice."
But things may not stay on the up.
"New regulations for international buyers are due to come into force in November and these have coincided with a tightening of requirements around the export of money out of China.
"In the last week of the month there was a fall -off in sales made under the hammer at auctions, and there was less pressure on buyers to make immediate decisions."
Mr Thompson says last month 11.9 percent of homes sold by the real estate company were purchased for under $500,000, which is significantly lower than other months.
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