Eight regions have reached record-high property asking prices, while the Auckland market remains flat.
New data from realestate.co.nz shows a steadily climbing trend throughout the year, thanks to dwindling supply.
Spokesperson Vanessa Taylor says no corner of the country has been spared.
"Northland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, central North Island, Nelson Bays, Manawatu/Whanganui and down south in Otago and Canterbury."
The number of homes for sale, compared to this time last year, is down 20 percent. Taranaki was hardest-hit, with 36 percent fewer listings.
New listings - brand new homes - are down 7.6 percent nationwide.
"You kind of have to really hunt high and low to find that perfect property," said Taylor. "None of the 19 regions that we report on saw a lift in total stock, when compared to this time last year... We need some councils across New Zealand to give us some more permits so that we can build."
If you can hold off a few months, she says more homes are expected to come onto the market in the new year.
"Typically when we do see a real tightening off at the end of the year we do see a boom at the beginning [of the next year]."
The average asking price in Auckland has weakened further, down 2.2 percent to $915,794. It peaked in 2017 at $980,000, according to realestate.co.nz, which has been tracking the market for 13 years.
"We have got this boom happening in the regions, we have seen Aucklanders looking elsewhere," said Taylor.
The average asking price nationwide is $680,592, down 1 percent since September but up 6.8 percent year-on-year. The biggest was recorded on the West Coast, up 19.9 percent to $307,300. Wairarapa saw the biggest decrease, down 10.4 percent to $512,127.
