Wairarapa's property market is finally showing signs of warming up as Aucklanders look for more affordable homes elsewhere.

Prue Hamill of Harcourts Hamill Realty said that even though winter was traditionally a quiet time the sales numbers in Wairarapa were looking encouraging and they had sold several properties recently to Auckland and Australian buyers, some of whom had been looking to purchase multiple houses.

The median house sale price in Masterton is around $240,000 compared to over $800,000 in Auckland.

Hamill welcomed initiatives like Masterton District Council's My Masterton promotion, but believed it should be "My Wairarapa" with the whole region promoting itself to the rest of the country.

"It's about trying to reach people further afield and selling the area. I think we need to sell the sizzle of what we've got here and then they will come and look at property.

"I've had several sales to Aucklanders of late, which is good because even when the market struggled from 2008, the Wellington market was hard to get over here," Hamill said.

Although the volume of house sales in Wairarapa was only  slightly higher than April, May and June the previous year,  there were more buyers, leading to better prices.

"There are several people after a property, as opposed to just the one buyer."

Property Brokers regional manager Guy Mordaunt said the balance of the local situation had tipped towards a sellers' market, with buyers starting to compete over properties.

"The [sales] volumes are up, but not massively. It's just consistent sales and with less property on the market, it's driving a bit more competition and fever in the market and that spills over and gets a bit of momentum going," he said.

He said the Auckland factor was a "tangible thing" with definite interest and higher sales coming as a result.

"I think people in Auckland have actually got to the point where they're scared of the property market and they're going 'I've got to pay a million bucks for a two-bedroom house, I don't know if I want to be here'," Mordaunt says.

He noted there were 22 house sales in Carterton in May, a considerable spike which would affect the number of available houses.

"There are less properties in the market in Carterton than there has been for years," he said.

CAMPAIGN STRIKES A CHORD

Masterton District Council economic development programme manager Tina Nixon said heightened buyer activity in the local real estate market from out-of-towners was great news for the region.

Through its My Masterton project, the council hoped to lure people to the region, particularly Aucklanders.

The My Masterton Facebook page was launched in February and had gathered 2000 likes since then.

The growth in residential property sales to people from outside the region was the first tangible evidence that My Masterton was having an impact.

An advertising campaign was set to kick off in Auckland next week, focusing on the housing market. Nixon said they had great support from real estate agents.

They were also in the process of putting together a 30-second video promoting the region.

"It will be another time for Masterton people to feel proud about where they live and share all those stories with people in their networks," Nixon says.

Although the campaign focused on Masterton, Nixon said any gains for the district would benefit the whole region.

"The reality is what's good for Masterton is good for Wairarapa and what's good for Wairarapa is good for Masterton."