The New Zealand government is watching Australia's moves to curb soaring house prices.

A parliamentary committee has recommended a register to monitor the impact foreign buyers are having on the Australian housing market.

The National-led government has resisted calls for a New Zealand register, but could change its mind following Wednesday’s news that the average Auckland house price increased by a whopping $NZ20,000 ($A18,619) in the space of a month.

The latest figures from Barfoot and Thompson show the average selling price in Auckland hit a new high of $NZ756,909 in November, up from $NZ736,238 in October.

Finance Minister Bill English says planning rules in Auckland are constraining housing development.

“We’ll be looking at what they’re doing in Australia but it’s a bit of a distraction from the real issue, which isn’t a few foreign buyers,” he said.

“We’re open-minded about whatever gives you more information.”

The government has been insisting for most of the year that there aren’t significant numbers of foreigners in the housing market, but 3News reports it’s discovered more than 8700 New Zealand properties listed on China’s biggest property website.

It says New Zealand is the fifth most-searched country after the US, Australia, the UK and Canada.