The government's concerns about rising house prices may be bearing at least a little fruit, although expectations that prices will rise to remain strong.

And Auckland's largest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson, is reporting booming sales in February — greater even than at the peak of the previous boom.

The last time Barfoot sold as many as the 1,124 it sold in February this year was 17 years ago.

Real Estate Institute data showed house prices rose nationally in January by 19.2% and 17.7% in Auckland.

Economist Tony Alexander's latest survey of agents found that while a net 88% of real estate agents are expecting house prices will rise even further, a net 5% are reporting that more residential property investors are trying to sell properties.

That's the first time agents have reported an increase in investors wanting to sell in the immediate aftermath of the covid crisis — last August, a net 15% of agents were seeing fewer investors trying to sell properties and that measure has fluctuated in negative territory since then until this latest survey.

Alexander said that although his latest survey occurred after the Reserve Bank said it would reimpose loan-to-valuation restrictions on investors, it will take some time to see whether there's any measurable impact of Finance Minister Grant Robertson's instruction to the RBNZ that it take house prices into account when setting monetary policy.

A net 32% of agents reported seeing more first-home buyers, although that measure has been falling from a peak of 50% in December.

Alexander attributes that to first-home buyers facing greater difficulty getting finance.

FOMO is driving buyers

Agents are reporting a plateauing of people attending auctions; 43% are reporting more people attending open homes but that requests for appraisals are trending lower.

A shortage of houses available for sale remains one of the main concerns of potential buyers, although that is trumped by concerns that prices are already too high.

Nevertheless, a net 86% of agents say they're seeing a 'fear of missing out' as a major driver with buyers.

"Seeing this result, it is hard to conclude anything other than that, for the immediate future, robust levels of activity producing upward pressure on prices will continue around the country," Alexander said.

Barfoot's managing director Peter Thompson said February was "exceptional" for his company, and its new listings suggest the shortage of homes to buy may be easing.

"More than half the homes sold in the month went for prices in excess of $1 million — 56% — whereas last year on average $1m homes accounted for a little above 40% of monthly sales," Thompson said.

Barfoot's average sales price in February was $1,075,408, up 16.8% from February last year, while the median prices were up 23.2% at $1,010.000.

The company had 3,416 properties on its books at the end of the month, suggesting March will also be strong. New listings of 1,941 in February were up 18.4% on last year.

"The market is now set to remain active throughout autumn," Thompson said.

His agency accounts for about 40% of sales in the Auckland region.