New data shows house prices may be on the way back up after 17 months of downturn across the country.
CoreLogic's latest house price index shows property values across Aotearoa flat-lined in September, with the national average sitting just above $900,000.
Auckland registered its first increase in 17 months, where values rose by 0.4 percent.
The total fall nationally has been 13.2 percent since March last year, although average values remain well higher than pre-COVID in March 2020.
"It's further signs of the bottom of the market and we're there in many of our main urban centres now," Quotable Value head of operations James Wilson told AM on Wednesday. "It's not perhaps signs of a 'big bounce-back' - but signs that we're reaching the bottom."
According to Wilson, major urban centres - including Auckland - were showing "some signs of life".
Realtor Barfoot & Thompson also found median house prices were stable in the super city, suggesting "the downward price cycle has likely run its course".
"Our auction rooms are really starting to heat up and, in fact, we've had a couple of auctions in the last week where we had 10-11 bidders... on the one auction," Barfoot & Thompson real estate agent Carl Watkins said.
"We're seeing a lot more activity... whatever government's in [after October 14], we will have a seasonal spring - we always do."
House prices climbed by 30 percent in 2021, partly driven by low-interest rates and deficient housing stock.
Rates have since risen dramatically on the back of aggressive official cash rate hikes by the Reserve Bank, cutting house prices. According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, the country's median house price was $767,000 as of July 31 - down from its 2021 peak of $925,000.
