NZ house prices edge higher in June NEW Zealand's median house price rose in June to within $NZ6,000 of its March record but the volume of sales fell from the strongest May month in six years. The median house price rose 0.5 per cent to $NZ394,000 in June and seven of the 12 regions measured recorded increases, according to the Real Estate Institute. There were 6,135 homes sold last month, down 20.5 per cent from May and little changed from June 2012. Days to sell improved to 34 from 35 in May. Records were still broken in the latest month. The median house price for Canterbury/Westland rose about 19 per cent from the same month of 2012 to a record $NZ365,000, while sales in that region fell 24 per cent to 773. The REINZ Stratified Median Housing Price Index, the Reserve Bank's preferred measure that strips out distortions in the data, fell 1.1 points in June from May to 3,685.8. The median price in Auckland fell 1.8 per cent to $NZ555,000 in June and the volume of properties sold fell 19 per cent to 2,485. Northland's median price fell 2.3 per cent to $NZ293,000 and the volume sold fell 15 per cent to 157. Waikato/Bay of Plenty recorded a 0.2 per cent increase in median house price to $NZ320,000 and a 15 per cent decline in sales to 910. For Hawke's Bay, the median price fell 4.7 per cent to $NZ271,500 and sales fell about one third to 162. Manawatu/Wanganui's median price fell 2.9 per cent to $NZ221,000 and sales fell 23 per cent to 236. Taranaki's median price rose one per cent to $NZ283,400 and sales dropped 23 per cent to 161. Wellington's median price rose 2.6 per cent in June from May to $NZ400,000 while sales tumbled 25 per cent to 590. In Nelson/Marlborough the median price fell 3.5 per cent to $NZ341,250 and sales fell 17 per cent to 220. Central Otago Lakes median price fell 12 per cent to $NZ410,000 and sales dipped 10 per cent to 110. Otago's median price rose 5.4 per cent to $NZ245,000 while the volume of sales fell 25 per cent to 213. Southland's median price was up 0.8 per cent from May to $NZ201,000 as the volume of sales dropped 30 per cent to 118.