Figures from the Real Estate Institute show the median house price has begun to recover from the low of 2008.
The median price for August was $346,750 dollars, a rise of $16,750 on the same month last year.
The figure is still lower than the $350,000 median price reached in August 2007.
The number of homes sold in August rose to 5,878, a 29% increase on the same month a year ago.
Sales for houses in the million dollar plus bracket increased by almost a third, to 163.
Institute president Mike Elford says the sector is a long way off another boom, but factors such as lower interest rates are attracting more potential buyers to the market.
