Celebrity chef Chelsea Winter’s dream home in the Bay of Plenty is now a tempting $2.25 million after $240,000 was sliced off the asking price last week.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom lifestyle property in Te Puna is one of a number of properties listed with luxury real estate firm Oliver Road that have had their prices slashed to meet the current market.
In an email sent to its client base, the agency said that in context of the current market which includes the cost of borrowing, general expectations and forecasts and also due to their sellers’ individual motivations and instructions, it had recently reviewed and repriced listings.
“We are committed to selling properties for what they are worth; for buyers and sellers to move forward with their plans safe in the knowledge that they bought or sold at a fair price,” the email said.
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Oliver Road listing agent Jason Eves told OneRoof that in a softening market most properties listed with a price expectation that is either listed as an asking price or indicated in an unpriced sales method will often get adjusted down over time.
Eves said the House Price Index, which was the best measure of property market values across New Zealand, has been dropping month on month in most regions since the market peak in November 2021.
In Tauranga, the HPI has decreased between 1.4% and 1.8% per month over the last few months.
“Generally speaking, for a seller to ensure their property remains competitive with other properties entering the market at a later date, they must consider the value of sales being made and those sales effects on what a buyer in the market might be prepared to pay for their property at that time.
“Simply put, in a rising seller’s market you might enter the market with an expectation that is ultimately exceeded by the selling price achieved, in a falling buyer’s market you will likely enter the market with an expectation that can’t be met by the sale eventually made.”
Along with Winter’s lifestyle property at 177C Crawford Road which has dropped in price to $2.25m from when it was first listed in October for $2.49m, several other listings have also been significantly reduced in price.
These include a grand country estate at 925 Upper Ohauiti Road in Ohauiti, Western Bay of Plenty, which has dropped to $3.65m and a new house at 70B The Boulevard in Papamoa Beach, Tauranga, now on for $1.68m.
The agency said properties were still selling, but they were taking a bit longer to shift.
Last month, Oliver Road sold three properties including a lifestyle property on Miles Lane in Tauriko for $1.99m; a three-bedroom, two-bathroom property on Te Hono Street in Maungatapu for $1.3m; and a four-bedroom, four-bathroom lifestyle property on Ongare Point in Tahawai for $2.95m.
So far this month one property is under offer and a four-bedroom, three-bathroom property on Inlet Views in Bethlehem sold for $1.997m.
Two other properties in Te Puna and Matua have also been under offer, but subsequently fell over due to the purchasers being unable to complete the deals.