Jaw-dropping sales in Mount Maunganui have stalled this year, with the number of $2 million-plus properties halving and nothing selling above $4 million.
The most expensive sale in the sought-after Tauranga beach suburb was a property on Oceanview Road selling in the mid-$3ms in February, followed by a house on Oceanbeach Road selling in the early $3ms.
Only six properties have sold for $2m and above so far this year - a stark contrast when compared with the same period last year when there were dozens of high-end sales including two properties on Marine Parade that sold for $8.55m and $7.65m.
January was a slower month due to falling over the summer holidays and all of the higher sales in February are yet to settle.
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Bayleys Mount Maunganui branch manager Linda Greenslade said the majority of sales in Mount Maunganui in 2023 were between $1m and $2m, but they are seeing demand for properties across most price ranges.
“At the Mount we have had less sales than the highs of a year or two ago, however inquiry is still strong, there is just more choice for buyers with more properties on the market.”
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Oliver Road partner Jason Eves can list at least five sales in the $2m and $3m price range in 2023 and does not think the top end of Mount Maunganui’s property market has been hit harder than any other price point.
Muricata Avenue has had three sales, he said, while a property on Oceanbeach Road and another on Oceanview Road both sold for over $3m. Both are popular and central streets.
“I would not suggest on the basis of these sales, and the overall low sales volumes across all the price bands and Bay of Plenty suburbs of the market at the moment, that there was any clear specific/disproportionate reduction of activity at the top end of the Mount market right now.”
A house on Marine Parade sold for $7.65m last year. Photo / Supplied
There have been three sales in the sought-after Muricata Ave this year. Photo / Supplied
Two properties he's selling at 33a Muricata Ave and 48 Tweed Street in Mount Maunganui attracted more interest in the first week of being on the market than some of the agency’s Tauranga listings have had in months.
“Admittedly these are both stand-out opportunities in their own rights, although the same can be said for all of the properties we list across the region.”
A two-bedroom home near the retail end of Muricata Ave is the most expensive property to sell on the central street so far this year after being bought at auction last week above its RV for $2.605m.
Sotheby’s listing agent Sally Francis said the vendors are “over the moon” especially given the current market conditions. At the peak of the market the Muricata Ave home could have quite possibly sold with a three in front of it, she said.
There was a lot of interest in the original home as soon as it hit the market and most came from cashed-up buyers wanting a holiday home, locals looking to move to a full site closer to the beach, as well as some developers seeing the potential to build three townhouses on the site.
“It was a full site, a 1980s-original home and it hadn’t had anything done to it and I think buyers quite like that because it wasn’t covered up – it was basically a blank canvas for someone.”
Ray White Bayfair director Rodney Fong said the market has picked up since February with an increase in first-home buyers wanting to get on the property ladder.
A two-bedroom entry-level home on Kingsley Place sold last week for $565,000 which, Fong said, represented good value at an entry-level price point, he said.
A three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 20B Matavai Street with an asking price of $615,000 is also on the market and is also being targeted at first-home buyers or people wanting to “have a crack at becoming a landlord”.
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