Latest data by realestate.co.nz showed between 2015 and 2025 New Zealand’s national average asking price increased 55.1% from $556,931 to $863,747.
Realestate.co.nz spokeswoman Vanessa Williams said many New Zealanders believed their house price would double every 10 years, but the current cycle meant that belief was not true.
"Over the past decade we have seen significant regional variation and, in many areas, growth has fallen well short of that aspirational ‘doubling in value’ benchmark."
Among the regions that did reach the benchmark was Southland — the average asking price had risen 111.3% since 2015 to $544,031 in 2025.
Both Otago and Central Otago-Lakes District missed out by a hair, rising 95.3% to $609,497 and 96% to $1,485,995, respectively, over the past decade.
Otago Property Investors Association vice-president Kathryn Seque-Roche said investors would be "a wee bit gutted".
"These are assets that they’ve bought for the appreciation value, as a business."
Homeowners typically stayed in their properties longer and did not buy them for business reasons.
"Of course, it’s always nice to gain a bit and get ahead, so I’m sure there will be a bit of people upset.
"But, at the end of the day, we’re still beating a lot of other regions that are faring worse off, I guess."
Investors in the South historically bought properties mainly for the cash flow from rent, rather than the long-term capital gain, Mrs Seque-Roche said.
"If you look back in 2015, I don’t think anybody in Dunedin saw house prices jumping in the way they did in 2020.
"A lot of investors would have gained a lot more in the last 10 years than they probably thought that they ever would in the lifetime of owning the property."
Harcourts Queenstown branch manager Priscilla Uhrle said it had been an unpredictable decade — a global pandemic in the middle of it — and there were many drivers that influenced house prices.
Homeowners would be "excited and pleased" they invested in Otago.
"Those who hold property the longest are traditionally generously rewarded in this region.
"Like any market, those who buy and sell in short succession have a higher risk profile. Timing is everything and most have in the past decade enjoyed success in our local property market, unlike other parts of New Zealand."
First-home buyers would no doubt wish they were in the market a decade earlier, just as many did in 2015, Ms Uhrle said.
Ms Williams said that while neither Otago nor Central Otago-Lakes District properties doubled in value, both regions grew substantially over the past decade.
The data should offer some reassurance for first-time home buyers.
"It shows that property values do rise over time which opens up opportunities in regions where growth has been steadier.
"It also reinforces the idea you don’t always have to wait for the right time to enter the market; rather, purchasing a property at the right time for your personal circumstances can still set you up well for the future."
The property market rewarded patience and perspective.
Realestate.co.nz said only seven of the total of 19 regions it surveyed reached the "coveted accolade".
The top three were Gisborne, rising 145.5% since 2015 to $697,527 in 2025; Manawatu-Whanganui, rising 121.5% to $606,985; and Central North Island which rose 119.2% to $764,316.
