New Zealand's median house price has risen $80,000 in a year to a record high of $640,000, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand said on Thursday.

That increase is well above the median wage of $52,000. Seven regions posted new record median prices.

"For two months in a row now we've seen every region in the country experience annual median price increases, showing a continuation of the price growth we started to see just before Christmas," said REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell.

The 14.3 per cent increase in the median house price last month was the largest percentage increase in 53 months.

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DAVID WHITE/STUFF New Zealand house prices jumped last month, resulting in a new record median price of $640,000.

"With strong demand across the country it's highly likely we'll see these price rises continue in March unless the economy takes a sudden hit from Covid-19," Norwell said.

Central banks around the world have cut rates to ward off the effects of the coronavirus on economies. The Reserve Bank's next scheduled rate decision is on March 25.

"We will obviously be keeping a close eye on any impacts on the housing market as a result of Covid-19 and it will be interesting to see what decision the Reserve Bank makes on 25 March in terms of the OCR," Norwell said.

Median house prices for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased by 11.8 per cent to a new record of $550,000, up from $492,000 in February 2019.

In Auckland, median house prices increased by 4.3 per cent to $888,000, the highest price in 35 months and up from $851,000 a year earlier.

It was a bumper month for the housing market, and the pace of the Auckland recovery shifted up a gear, said ASB.

The bank has lowered its forecast for house price rises to 5 per cent by the end of the year as a result of economic fallout from the coronavirus, with New Zealand considered likely to enter recession.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF The Wellington region median house price broke through the $700,000 mark for the first time in February.

While house prices fell the last four times New Zealand experienced or skirted economic recession, house prices were expected to hold up this time around. That was thanks to cushioning from record low mortgage rates, which could go even lower, as well as a healthy labour market, and very low housing supply, said ASB senior economist Mike Jones.

Record median prices were recorded in Northland ($560,000), Gisborne ($450,000), Manawatu/Wanganui ($425,000), Wellington ($716,000, breaking through the $700,000 mark for the first time), Tasman ($665,000), Marlborough ($531,250), and Canterbury ($474,000).

For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the number of properties sold fell by -0.3 per cent to 4726.

"With new listings still remaining critically low it's not surprising that we've seen such a mixed result across the country in February in terms of the number of properties sold," Norwell said.

"This is only the second time since records began that we've seen fewer than 11,000 new listings come to the market during February when some years have seen as many as 18,000 new listings come to the market at this time of the year. This outlines just how low listings are."

The median number of days to sell a property nationally fell by 12 days to 35, the lowest days to sell for the month of February in 13 years.

DENISE PIPER/STUFF Northland saw a record median price of $560,000 last month.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon called the upswing "oddly lacklustre in some respects", with sales down 1 per cent, below levels seen late last year.

"It's notable that the surge in prices has yet to bring more sellers out of the woodwork," he said.

"The Covid-19 pandemic is unlikely to have been a factor for the housing market in February, but its impact will become more apparent in the coming months. Our guess is that house price gains will come to a halt in the near term, as caution among buyers outweighs any further drop in mortgage rates.

"However, we would also emphasise that this shock is temporary in nature, and once the outbreak has passed we would expect the housing market to return to its previous trajectory."

ANZ did not rule out modest house price falls heading into the middle of the year.

"We now see a domestic recession and more prolonged slowdown as highly probable," said ANZ senior economist Liz Kendall.

"Exports are currently being hit hard, but a wide range of industries will be affected. With business sentiment turning down, the labour market expected to soften, and households expected to be cautious, the more uncertain and downbeat outlook is likely to see the housing market soften."

The number of homes sold for under $500,000 across New Zealand fell to 30 per cent of the market, from 41 per cent in February 2019 - the lowest percentage of sales below the $500,000 market.

At the top end of the market, 17 percent of properties sold for $1 million, up from 12.6 per cent.