The latest QV House Price Index shows the average house price rose 22.7 per cent in the Kapiti Coast from $393,276 to $482,723 over the past 12 months, compared with a more subdued national increase of 13.5 per cent to an average of $631,302.

It is certainly a catch up, however, on the price increases in the Auckland Region where the average house is now an astonishing $1,047,699; and on Wellington City where the average is now $702,081.

Foreign investors, particularly Chinese, are seen as fueling much of the increases.