A large number of family homes have popped up for sale in some of the New Zealand’s most popular beach towns.
Coromandel real estate agents told OneRoof the jump in listings of four-bedroom, two-bathroom-plus homes in Hahei and Cooks Beach was down a mix of factors, including retirees relocating out of the area, families taking the opportunity to upgrade and out-of-town owners feeling like they haven't used their holiday homes enough.
Ten of the 14 properties currently listed for sale on OneRoof in Cooks Beach have four or more bedrooms. In Hahei, four-bedroom-plus homes they make up six of the nine listings on OneRoof.
Harcourts Cooks Beach sales manager Paulette Tainsh said it was “unusual” to have so many bigger homes on the market all at once.
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“Usually, you get a mixture of your twos and threes, and you don’t get too many four bedrooms,” she said.
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She is currently marketing four four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes in Cooks Beach including a property at 14 Motukorure Parade and another at 11 Voyager Place which are all owned by permanent residents who are moving either within the area for a change of lifestyle or relocating outside the region to be closer to family.
With about only 10% of properties occupied by permanent residents, most of their business comes from holiday homeowners.
“It has just been an unusual year for having the four bedrooms.”
The four-bedroom home at 11 Voyager Place is one of 10 four-bedroom-plus homes currently for sale in Cooks Beach. Photo / Supplied
Tainsh said prices have come down since the peak, but it was difficult to pinpoint the amount because it depended on the type of property and location.
Richardson’s salesperson Hannah Cook said more than half the properties they were selling in Cooks Beach have four or more bedrooms.
But unlike Tainsh, most of her listings are holiday homes and are on the market because the owners are not using them as much as they had hoped.
Cook and her colleague Merv Gardner have just this week listed an impressive four-bedroom, four-bathroom beachfront property at 135 Captain Cook Road, in Cooks Beach, which the out-of-town owners are selling so they can spend more time on their launch.
“I don’t think it leads to any great revelation. But maybe that given two of these are new-build properties people have decided four bedrooms, two bathrooms is the new three bedrooms, one bathroom!”
A permanent resident is selling their lakeside home at 14 Motukorure Parade, in Cooks Beach, and moving out of the Coromandel. Photo / Supplied
The four-bedroom home at 12 Michelle Lane is one of six four-bedroom-plus homes currently for sale in Hahei. Photo / Supplied
It’s a similar situation in Hahei where Bayleys salesperson Lea Jurkovich has a large number of four-bedroom homes for sale, such as the four-bedroom, three-bathroom family home at 12 Michelle Lane and another at 37 Hahei Beach Road, compared to the three-bedroom homes that usually dominate the market.
Jurkovich said several retired owners were selling up and relocating out of the Coromandel including three clients who have moved south to either Queenstown or Wanaka to be closer to family.
In the last few weeks, she has also carried out a large number of appraisals for holiday homeowners where the properties are now surplus to requirements. “I think they are just waiting for the elections and then off they go.”
A lifestyle property at 387 Wentworth Valley Road, in Whangamata, is for sale because they owners are moving to the lower North Island. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys salesperson Dale Sholson has not noticed a huge swing towards larger homes for sale in Whangamata or Pauanui.
However, he is selling a near-new four-bedroom, two-bathroom lifestyle property at 387 Wentworth Valley Road, in Whangamata, because the family is relocating with their children to the lower North Island.
Sholson said it was not uncommon to see retirees move out of the Coromandel as they got older and wanted to be closer to amenities. “I think you will find especially when you are talking Cooks Beach and up that way is they are scared they are too far away from medical.”
And while it has been a slow winter for agents in the Coromandel, all the agents told OneRoof that they have started to notice an increase in enquiry in the last few weeks and all their phones are ringing again.
They said vendors were waiting for the election and by Labour Weekend expect to have a lot more listings with buyers out looking.
That demand is expected to increase as the March completion date for the Kopu-Hikuai Highway draws closer, making access to the popular holiday hotspots easier and quicker again.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in the Coromandel
