The West Coast is about as far as buyers looking for peace and quiet can go. Even the big towns are tiny: Greymouth has a population of just over 14,000; Westport almost 5000, and Hokitika less than 3000.
House prices in the region are also some of lowest in New Zealand, with West Coast’s average property value sitting just below $393,000. Price tags in some of the region’s small towns and suburbs are about the same as the amount needed for a deposit in Auckland or Wellington.
Deedee Daly, of Greg Daly Real Estate, said the region was popular with buyers because prices are low, says, noting that 75% of buyers in Greymouth were from out of town.
She said one her more interesting recent sales was of a three-bedroom vintage cottage on 429sqm of Mawhera Incorporation leasehold land, which fetched $225,000 – almost $100,000 above its 2021 RV.
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The seller had bought the property in a dilapidated state in June last year, renovated it and flicked it on. “This was just a retired fella who needed a wee project,” Daly said. “He saw the potential in what he could do.” The new buyer is a local who works at the Te Nīkau Grey Hospital.
The Preston Road cottage before the renovation. Photo / Supplied
Daly has other homes on her book just like it. She is marketing a three-bedroom freehold cottage on Threadneedle Street, in Greymouth, with a price tag of $180,000, and a two-bedroom renovation project on Ross Street, in Dunollie, Greymouth, for $210,000. She even has an 809sqm piece of land with poles in the ground that the vendor wants to sell off quickly, for $125,000.
Even at the top of the market, buyers can get a quality home in Greymouth for less than $1m. Daly recently sold a five bedroom, three-bathroom modern home on 904sqm of land on Stanton Crescent, in Karoro, for $755,000 - $75,000 above its 2021 RV and more than $200,000 what it last traded for in 2019. “Put that anywhere else in the country and you could put a one or a two in front of the price,” Daly said.
In Westport, to Greymouth’s north, agents have reported that recent flooding has had an impact on the housing market, with some residents keen to quit the town altogether.
Ray White Westport agent Brodie French is marketing a two-bedroom flood-damaged home on Coates Street. The property is seeking offers of over $85,000 and the listing headline is clear: “Vendor Says Sell!”
A three-bedroom cottage on Ross Street, in Dunollie, Greymouth, is for sale for $210,000. Photo / Supplied
A five-bedroom home on Stanton Crescent, in Karoro, sold in April for $755,000. Photo / Supplied
French said it was a risky buy but noted that flood-damaged homes were selling - for the right price. “A lot [of homes] in the town are being sold ‘as is’, and a range of people are buying – those who are looking to get on the tools themselves and save a bit of money and investors who can do them up and rent them out,” French said.
There is talk of a $25m flood wall being built in Westport, but until then bargains can be had.
Property Brokers agent Garry Howard has a two-bedroom home on his books which has a price tag of $140,000-plus and is being sold “as is where is”. The property on Brougham Street, Westport, has already been stripped back and Howard said it was a great project for “someone handy on the tools”.
Howard was also keen to point out that plenty of homes in Westport were not affected by the floods and that insurance was still available for buyers.
The most northerly sales on the West Coast in the past three months have been in Karamea and surrounds. Property Brokers agent Paul Murray, who spent much of his adult life in Tokyo but now lives in one of the most remote corners of New Zealand, said his buyers were from all over.
A flood-damaged home on Coates Street, in Westport, is seeking offers of over $85,000. Photo / Supplied
A renovation project on Brougham Street, Westport, is seeking offers of over $140,000. Photo / Supplied
“Covid certainly changed the way people think about their life and that's worked in favour of Karamea,” he said. Visitor numbers have been up 30% this year on pre-Covid arrivals, even though there are no international travellers.
“Karamea is probably the most remote town on mainland New Zealand,” Murray said, adding that it was still connected to the outside world, at least digitally. “One of the great things about here is we have fibre broadband.
“It presents itself as a pretty attractive proposition for someone who has an internet-based job. They get the best internet speeds in the country here, and you can buy a property for much lower prices than elsewhere in the country.”
The other trump card is the newly rebuilt Karamea Area School, which caters from Year 1 to Year 13.
Among Murray’s sales this year were two sections on South Terrace, in Karamea, that were were billed as having coastal views, cell phone reception and a soon-to-be-laid tar sealed road. One sold for $265,000, the other for $235,000.
“I’ve also sold quite a few bush blocks bordering on the Kahurangi National Park,” Murray said, highlighting a $320,000 sale of a 4.1ha of block of native bush on Blue Duck Road.
A 4.1ha of block of native bush on Blue Duck Road, in Buller, recently sold for $320,000. Photo / Supplied
A bach in Jackson Bay was bought by a group of friends in January for $400,000. Photo / Supplied
West Coast is also known for its beaches. First National agent Maureen Hudson sold one of the southern-most residential properties on the coast this year at Neils Beach, in Jackson Bay - a two-bedroom bach, which was snapped up for $400,000 in January by a group of friends from Wanaka, Auckland and elsewhere.
Hudson said the property most likely started life as a garage, but had evolved over the years, with much of the hard work upgrading it done before it went on the market.
She said West Coast baches had become increasingly popular in recent years. “It’s mainly people from Central Otago using them as getaway baches. Central Otago has got a lot busier and people want to get away,” she said.
“The road [State Highway 6 over the Haast Pass] has become a lot easier to negotiate and doesn’t close so much during the winter,” she said.
“Twelve years ago, I'd have anything up to 50 listings on my books at any one time. And it would be not unusual to sell a property that had been listed for four or five years. Now, I've probably got two or three listings at any one time, and they often sell within six weeks.”
Find more homes for sale in West Coast here.
