‘Auckland probably doesn’t even know it is bleeding people’

Aucklanders have once again got their sights on Hamilton and its surrounding areas and have started the year snapping up a large number of the city’s rentals to live in as well as looking for houses to buy.

There’s been both a large spike in the number of rental properties being let to Aucklanders as well as the number of enquiries for houses to buy with both making up more than a third of both markets, agents say.

Last month Lodge Property Rentals saw a larger than normal number of Aucklanders sign up for rental properties in Hamilton.

Lodge Real Estate managing director Jeremy O’Rourke said of the 37% of out-of-towners moving into rental accommodation in the city, most were from Auckland.

“We definitely are seeing a lot more Aucklanders coming into the city. In saying that, Auckland probably doesn’t even know it is bleeding people. But it’s definitely a growing trend in the city. It’s always been there, but we are just seeing more of them now.”

The main attractions were both jobs and lifestyle, he said.

“If you are keen on having a horse, try doing that if you are working in downtown Auckland, whereas here getting out and doing that is an easy thing to do. A lot of people are coming because they love those outdoor pursuits and Hamilton is a great centre for it.”

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Another major consideration for people was that it offered much better value for money than Auckland, he said.

“We often point to nurses, doctors, teachers who will be on a similar income in Auckland as they are in Hamilton, but the cost of living here is significantly lower and the access to some of the lifestyle pursuits they enjoy is so much easier.”

O'Rourke said a lot of people tend to rent first, if they are lucky enough to find somewhere in the tight rental market, so they can get to know the city before making their big purchase.

“We certainly saw that with a lot of people who came from Wellington into Rabobank – a typical pattern was them coming into the city and renting first before they found something to buy.”

Ray White Hamilton principal Mark Keesom said a few years back people from Auckland and Wellington were just buying Hamilton properties as investments, but they are now actually buying them to live in themselves.

“It would be 20% or 30% of my enquiry is from Auckland or Wellington now. It didn’t used to be Wellington, but now we are getting Wellington as well.”

CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall says the peak year for Aucklanders moving to Hamilton was 2015. Photo / Supplied

They are realising that they can come to a smaller city like Hamilton and make just as much money, but live for cheaper, he said.

“The ones I talk to from Wellington and Auckland, they were selling their little townhouses and coming down and buying lifestyle properties for the same amount of money.”

Those buyers usually had a budget of between $1m and $1.4m and are looking at lifestyle properties along the west side from Te Kowhai around to Ohaupo, as well as properties in Cambridge. Lifestyle properties in Tamahere and Matangi are also attractive, he said, but require a bigger budget.

“It’s more Covid-19, that is what has changed it. Because everyone did so much zooming and now it’s like, ‘oh well I worked from home for 18 months, why can’t I carry on doing it and let’s go live somewhere better, quieter, cheaper and still do the same job. And if I have to go to the office, I can drive up there and it’s only an hour’.”

Lugtons managing director Simon Lugton said his agency has also had a lot of enquiries from Aucklanders about moving to the Waikato.

More mature buyers and retirees continue to flock to Cambridge for its village feel, while Hamilton appears to be attracting those people who are relocating to the city for work, he added.

“If you are selling an Auckland property, they have pretty good buying power when they come down to Cambridge. Cambridge is not cheap from what we are used to, but for an Aucklander coming from an inner-city suburb it probably does appear great value so they can buy some nice property down there and release the equity out of a higher value Auckland property and get a superior property.”

Cambridge Town Hall. Out-of-town buyers are usually charmed by the town’s village feel. Photo / Getty Images

However, CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall said CoreLogic’s latest figures are yet to show a huge increase in the number of Aucklanders or Wellingtonians selling in those cities and buying in Hamilton although it is possible that they are renting first.

So far this year only 2% of people have sold in Auckland and bought in Hamilton and only 1% in Wellington. This is a stark contrast from the peak in the third quarter of 2015 when Auckland movers into Hamilton accounted for 6% of sales due to Auckland prices being significantly higher than Hamilton’s at the time.

While CoreLogic’s figures do not capture first-home buyers moving from Auckland or Wellington and buying in Hamilton, it does track people who sell property in one city and buy in another.

“You can always find instances and times where people will be selling to Aucklanders moving to a centre or Wellington moving to a centre, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the dominant force of the market or it’s happening all the time.”

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