The country’s hottest housing market right now is Whiritoa, according to the latest OneRoof-Valocity house price figures.
Homeowners in the small beach town, just south of Whangamata, enjoyed the country’s biggest house price growth of the last three months. The town’s average property value rose 23.8% ($209,000) over the quarter to $1.088m, well above the nationwide growth rate of 4.1%.
Neighbouring Waihi also had an unusually hot streak, with the mining town’s average property value up 19.3% ($130,000) to $804,000.
Both towns are on the northern fringes of Hauraki territorial authority, whose overall average property value jumped 17.2% over the quarter and 38% year on year to $811,000.
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Agents say the demand for coastal homes has driven house price growth in the area.
Bayleys agent Dale Sholson, who is taking a four-bedroom home in Whiritoa to auction on March 17, says the town is enjoying spillover activity from Whangamata, which has long been a popular location for Aucklanders on the hunt for baches.
“I mean, it’s the next beach round but it has a marvellous feel about it,” he says.
“The thing about Whiritoa, the thing you can't miss about it, is the friendly village feel. That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.
“Watching people ride their old bikes down with their surfboards to the beach - it's just true Kiwi living and holidaying.”
Sholson says he has fielded inquiries for his listing from Auckland and the Waikato, but also from Whiritoa locals looking for a bigger home.
1 Swordfish Avenue, in Whiritoa, goes to auction on March 17. Photo / Supplied
People buy to create an heirloom property for the family and while some live there permanently, others spend half their time there, or one occupant works from home while the other ducks back to Auckland, Sholson says.
Over in Waihi and Waihi Beach, in the Western Bay of Plenty, Gary Alway, principal and owner of Waihi Beach LJ Hooker, describes the housing market over summer as “crazy”.
“The prices of property in the big cities have certainly helped. If you have had a family home in Auckland, Manurewa, Papatoetoe that you have had for 30 or 40 years and [you are] mortgage free, a lifestyle here is viable.”
The average price is over $1m in Waihi Beach now, he says, and while the market slowed during the lockdown, it’s gone “crazy again”.
He says his phone starts ringing the moment visiting Aucklanders are back at work.
He sold one beachfront property at Waihi Beach in just three hours. The sale price was in the $3ms.
He says the big difference between Waihi and Waihi Beach is price. While the average property value in Waihi is still under $1m, in Waihi Beach it is well over $1.5m, up 13% over the quarter.
“If you buy in Waihi they can still have their home and their motorhome for travel; if they buy at the beach they're probably not going to have the motorhome.”
Above, the mining town of Waihi, and neighbouring Waihi Beach, below, have recorded strong growth over the quarter. Photos / Getty Images
Alway recently sold four hectares for around $7m for a new retirement village at Waihi Beach, which will give people more options to stay in the area as they get older.
Greg Sheppard, general manager of Harcourts Waihi and Waihi Beach agrees the market is strong in both areas but in recent weeks the market is showing signs of cooling.
“People are doing their homework a little bit more and taking their time, which I think is a better market.”
There's still consistent demand for properties, though: “We're desperately hunting for new stock that will satisfy those buyers.”
A recent sale includes 539 Trig Road, a lifestyle block which sold for $1.2m to local buyers but there have been Aucklanders looking which puts pressure on local buyers – OneRoof statistics show more than 50% of those looking are from Auckland.
James Wilson, director of valuations at OneRoof’s data partner, Valocity, says the data shows coastal areas have become hugely sought-after.
The data also shows 91 suburbs in total with average property value growth of more than 10 per cent, and five Territorial Authorities – Hauraki, Waitomo, Wairoa, Queenstown-Lakes and South Taranaki – saw double digit growth over the last quarter.
Valocity director of valuations James Wilson says the fringe bach market has bounced back. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Wilson says everywhere in the country has had low sales volumes, including Waihi and Whiritoa.
“People have been trying to get that bach in a coastal location since Covid hit and Whangamata coastal property is very expensive and hard to come by.
“What you’re seeing in both those areas is the fringe bach market has bounced back into life and as a result you are seeing that value growth.”
Waihi has also benefited from inter-North Island migration flows, he says.
“Anecdotally, and a wee bit in the data now, there seems to have been a transition to people who are choosing to live there permanently as their work from home hub.
“Waihi Beach has almost become a bit of a jewel in the crown down there now and really popular amongst that coastal property market and owner occupier market.”
Rents are strong there, too, so investors are happy to explore, he says.
