No. The material of the magnet is homogenous at every point, including at poles and at the center and it is not the material property of magnet that causes this effect.

Iron, from which the needle is made, is ferromagnetic in nature. Hence its magnetic domains get aligned in a magnetic field. When the needle is placed near the poles of the magnet, the opposite magnetic polarity will be induced in the needle. So, whenever it comes to near a pole, it gets attracted. But, when the needle is near the middle portion of the magnet, the two poles will induce two different polarities in the needle. But, the magnetic domains set by one pole gets canceled by the other pole. As a result, the needle will not get attracted to either of the poles, when it is at the center.