You may be green with envy to hear what buyers can expect to pay for a house here.
Aucklanders may be green with envy to hear what buyers can expect to pay for a house in Wairoa.
The Hawke’s Bay town, between Gisborne and Napier, is, with a median property value of $160,000, the cheapest place to buy a home in New Zealand.
Jenny Krzanich, of Property Brokers, has a house for sale which is even cheaper than the median but she doesn’t expect it to be on the market for long.
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The list price for 44 Mahia Road, a two bed cottage which Krzanich says is "cute as anything", is $145,000 - about $30,000 less than the deposit a first home buyer would generally need to save to buy in Auckland.
Krzanich says: “You go in there and it just feels loved and homely. People comment what a gorgeous little cottage it is.”
The secret is out about Wairoa, Krzanich says. People from all over the place are looking for homes there from as far away as Northland and there’s a mix of downsizers and first home buyers.
“We’ve got a hospital there and we’ve got quite a few retirees coming. There’s Age Concern and there’s bowls and the golf club and they have a really nice network of people in Wairoa.”
The Mahia Road property is private with trees and birds – “it’s just a little patch of paradise really”.
'Selling within a week'
Afco is the main employer in Wairoa, she says, plus there’s a timber mill and the hospital. “It’s got a beautiful river running through it that comes from Lake Waikaremoana, so we’ve got Lake Waikaremoana probably an hour away and then we’ve got Mahia Peninsula which is about 40 minutes away so it’s an aquatic playground really.”
Krzanich says for the $160,000 median price you would probably get a three bedroom house that may need some work or that might not have a garage. If you were to stretch your budget to around $200,000, you would get a home that didn’t need any work and for $300,000, you would get a really lovely home.
44 Mahia Road, Waiora, is for sale for $145,000. Photo / Supplied
Like the rest of the country, Wairoa is short of listings, Krzanich says. “We’re listing and selling within a week. I mean, I listed a property and sold it within two days. We’ve got buyers lining up pretty much.”
She thinks the attraction is a mix of lifestyle and affordability – a lot of first home buyers are using their KiwiSaver and taking advantage of the low interest rates to get into a house, she says.
Investors are also buying, and local people are coming back from Australia wanting houses.
Auckland eyes on Whanganui
In Whanganui, the median property value is $295,000 and Property Brokers sales consultant Vicky Todd has a three-bedroom home listed at 29 Karewa Street in Castlecliff for $295,000-plus.
“It’s elevated and you’ve got a little bit of a sea view as well,” she says.
The house dates to the 1920s and has original features with original cabinetry in the kitchen, a bay window and a flat back section which is great for kids to run around on.
Your for $295,000-plus: 29 Karewa Street, Castlecliff, Whanganui. Photo / Supplied
“For $295,000 you’ll still get a really solid, three bedroom, first home, definitely.
“We’re in the first home price bracket now at that price point but you can expect something fairly reasonable, and generally our sections, very few of them have been subdivided down so you’re going to get decent-sized sections as well.”
Once more run down, Castlecliff, where Todd’s listing is, is an up and coming suburb she says has changed a lot in recent years. “It’s our seaside suburb. You’ve got the beach, you’ve got a beautiful café out there on the way to the beach which has changed everything," she says.
“It’s become a real artist’s community now, Castlecliff. There’s a really fabulous art gallery across the road from the café.”
Todd says while she thinks the influx of interest from Aucklanders in Whanganui has slowed in the last couple of months, there are floods of people coming from elsewhere. “I’ve dealt with I don’t know how many people from the Kapiti Coast, but everywhere really. In the last couple of weeks I’ve had people from Kinloch," she says.
“I had a lady from Australia that’s moving out here.”
At the bottom, but at the top
And down at the bottom of the country, Invercargill is still offering good buying with a median price of $297.
Ray White business manager John Murphy says the market is hot but Invercargill, like everywhere, has a shortage of listings.
Ray White has 19 Louisa Street for sale in Gladstone for at $339,000 - just above the city's median property value of $297,500 - and it’s an art deco-style two bedroom home.
19 Louisa Street, Gladstone, Invercargill, has a $339,000 price tag. Photo / Supplied
Murphy says the property has been renovated and is “natty”.
“It’s tastefully done, nice clean lines, but it’s in a good location as well. Gladstone is considered one of the top suburbs in Invercargill.”
The house is only a few minutes to town and is set back from the road so is nice and sunny with a well-maintained garden.
For the median price of $297,000 Murphy says you would be looking at buying a good three bedroom brick and rough cast home in a good location and on a good size section, possibly up to a quarter acre section.
He is born and bred in Invercargill and says it’s a great place to live.
“To drive from one side to the other it’s just maximum ten minutes. What we call a rush hour here would probably be quiet time anywhere else in the country.”
Go West
Up the West Coast of the South Island, mining town Buller’s median price is a mere $200,000.
Charlie Elley, from Property Brokers, says the economy is “pumping” along since the mining crisis in 2012/2013 and while prices were taking time to recover sales have increased to pre-crisis numbers.
More people are coming to Buller, as well, he says.
The economy has improved on the back of higher coke and coal prices so there are more people coming for work, and Buller is also getting downsizers from the Nelson-Tasman region.
“We’re seeing early retirees selling average houses up there for $500,000, $600,000 and coming down here and either buying brand new or at least modern homes for around $300,000 or $400,000 so they end up with, for the first time in their lives, six figure sums in the bank.”
The word is spreading you can still do that, but it’s getting harder because of the availability of stock, he says.
However, there is still a bargain or two to be had.
Elley says for $200,000,you won’t get brand new but you are likely to be able to buy a partly-modernised wooden bungalow on a good size section with room for capital gains.
A typical residential bungalow at 61 Brougham Street in Westport they have for sale for $195,000 has a quarter acre section, three car garaging and the usual facilities, he says.
“You’re probably still paying around $400,000 or something like that in Nelson so we’re half the price.”
