Police outside a house in Haumoana where the bodies of a family was found

Hawke's Bay police will today continue to investigate what led to the deaths of a mother and her two young children.

A visiting family member found Melissa Dorward, 31, and her daughters Keira Watson, 4, and Ellah Watson, 2, dead in their home in Rockwood Place, Haumoana, 10km northeast of Hastings yesterday morning.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and they were not looking for anyone else.

It appeared they had died in the house but police would not be able to confirm their cause of death until post mortems had been carried out, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave De Lange said.

No weapons were found at the property and none of the bodies had any obvious injuries.

Police had been talking to friends and family, Mr De Lange said.

"Investigations are nowhere near complete and there is still a lot of work to be done to ascertain how they died and under what circumstances.

"Until we can confirm those facts, we are not in a position to confirm any rumour, speculation or other people's versions of events."

The family had moved into the Rockwood Place house only a couple of weeks ago.

One Haumoana local, who had lived next door to the family before they moved, said their children had often played together.

"She seemed to be a good mum," she told the Dominion Post.

A Rockwood Place resident said the deaths were a "real tragedy" and it would take the street a while to recover.