National house values are now 40% above the previous 2007 high, and Dunedin, Queenstown and Central Otago prices have gained from 15% to 30% since then.
For most analysts the increasing gains are from a combination of investor demand, record low interest rates, Auckland's rapid price growth and strong migration to New Zealand.
The heated Auckland market shows values there are now 78.4% higher than the previous 2007 peak, striking $975,087 for June, Quotable Value national spokeswoman Andrea Rush said.
"Nationwide values are now rising at the fastest rate since 2004, up 5.6% over the past three months alone. The nationwide average value is now nearing $600,000,'' she said yesterday.
In main centres, she said Hamilton had the highest growth, up 29% during the past year. Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin markets also grew rapidly and values were up between 4% and 5% during the past three months.
Dunedin home values continued to show high levels of activity and demand. City values rose 10.7% in the year to June and 4% during the past three months, she said.
The average value in the city was now $327,664.
QV's Dunedin registered valuer, Duncan Jack, described the Dunedin market as buoyant and experiencing strong levels of activity and demand leading to rising values.
"A lot of investors in Dunedin look to returns and capital gain over the medium and long term, but the recent rapid growth in the market may start to attract some investors who are looking to make quicker capital gains,'' Mr Jack said.
Separate housing data this week from Realestate.co.nz compared gross rental yields in Auckland and Otago, given the huge disparity between actual asking prices, yields in theory being respectively 3.18% and 7.32%.
Mr Jack said around Dunedin there was a shortage of listings, which had been the case "for quite some time'', but it appeared more pronounced currently, possible due to the traditional winter slowdown.
The only South Island places where values decreased were the Clutha district, down 1.7% during the past three months, Westland district, down 4.4% and Hurunui district, down 0.5%, she said.
In contrast, Central Otago district values were accelerating, up 17.2% year on year and 7.9% during the past three months, Ms Rush said.
She noted Invercargill values were on the rise again, after being flat for some years, up 6.3% year on year and 1.7% during the past three months, although the $221,391 June value was up only 0.4% on the 2007 market peak.
