A once sleepy Waikato country town is appealing to budget-conscious Hamiltonians who can pick up decent-sized sections for half the price and a riverside property for three times less.
Taupiri has had a massive transformation over the last decade as some of the original farmland has been developed into two new subdivisions – Mountain View Estate and Kildare Estate.
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ReMax Flagship Hamilton owner Harry Luther said since he moved to Hamilton 20 years ago it had gone from a town that people passed through to effectively becoming another suburb of Hamilton as the city continued to expand north.
“It’s not the same Taupiri it used to be – it’s a really nice place. It’s close to the shops, the riverwalk and parks – all the amenities you need are right on the corner. It’s really close and the motorway is right there if you need to go to Auckland for work – it’s actually a really, really good spot to be in.”
Luther said Hamiltonians prepared to move about 15kms north could get a bargain.
The four-bedroom, two-bathroom property on Great South Road in Taupiri has had a price reduction of almost $400,000 and must be sold. Photo / Supplied
A brand-new, four-bedroom, two-bathroom riverside home at 92 Great South Road, in Taupiri, is for sale with an asking price of $1.05 million.
“The same house, if that was on River Road, in Flagstaff, would be a $3m house and now exactly nine minutes away you go and it’s a very nice location still, right on the river, and is $1.05m.”
The owner bought the section and built his family home on it, but due to financial pressures had decided to sell it without even moving in.
Luther said the owner was now realistic and had slashed almost $400,000 off its original asking price of $1.4m.
“The vendor has come down a lot in price, he’s losing so much money. He’s going to sell it at a loss now. He said bring me any offer of $1.05m and he’s going to sell it.”
Luther said it was also on the edge of the exact same river that housed some of the city’s most expensive properties. Last month a large home on Pollock Drive, in Chartwell, with impressive views over the Waikato River broke the city’s record after selling for $4.85m.
A 767sqm section on Taraheke Drive, in Mountain View Estate, is for sale for $385,000. Photo Supplied
Harcourts salesperson Sol Taplin, who is marketing the two Taupiri subdivisions that would eventually link up, said the sections in Taupiri were also bigger and cheaper compared to some of those for sale in Hamilton.
The same family had developed the original farm and Taplin said there was potential for a lot more of the surrounding farmland to be developed.
“Everybody has driven to Auckland and they drive past Pokeno and have seen how that’s grown over the years, well there’s that same potential for Taupiri. It’s just off the expressway – in eight minutes you can be at Rototuna.”
Taupiri also had its own service centre with a BP, McDonald’s and various other food offerings.
Most people buying and building in Taupiri were either young or middle-aged couples and families from Hamilton, but Taplin also fielded enquiries from people in Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.
“There’s a little bit more benefit for those purchasers because if you look at the likes of Greenhill Park where there are new sections and new houses in there, but they are on smaller sections and smaller houses and the density is a little bit higher. In Taupiri, you’ve still got those sections that might be 600sqm or 700sqm or we’ve even had a few over 1000sqm.”
The prices had also dipped since the last stage was released in 2021 and 14 sections sold under the hammer at a Harcourts auction for over $400,000 each, which exceeded expectations at the time. They were now priced around the mid to high $300,000s such as a 767sqm section at 33 Taraheke Drive, in Mountain View Estate, that has a $385,000 price tag.
Four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes in Taupiri, such as this one for sale at 11 Taraheke Drive, are selling for around the early to mid-$900,000s. Photo / Supplied
Lodge salesperson Blair Pointon said the main advantage was that people could get a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home with two living areas on a 700sqm-plus section for less money than a house in Hamilton on a 300sqm section.
“It’s for buyers who want to live on the original nice big streets and not be crammed into a subdivision, but willing to commute a little bit further.
“What you would probably be having to pay for $1.3m in Hamilton, for Huntington you are kind of getting out there for $900,000 and $950,000.”
An example of a house in that price range would be a four-bedroom, two-bathroom property on a 723sqm section at 11 Taraheke Drive, in Taupiri, that was built in 2021.
While seven of a group of eight three-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouses on about 250sqm sections on Button Lane near Gordonton Road had sold between $710,000 and $730,000. The only remaining Button Lane house left had a price tag of $725,000, while a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on a 750sqm section at 6 Taraheke Drive was priced at $899,000.
Lodge salesperson Glenn Collins said the properties in the early $700,000s had been really popular and had attracted first-home buyers mainly moving from Hamilton and one from Auckland, along with several investors.
The new subdivisions had helped put Taupiri on the radar because previously it was a place people wouldn't have naturally gone to because there was nothing new out there for them, he said
On top of all the new houses available, he said the opening of the expressway had also made it much more accessible to Hamilton.
Lodge managing director Jeremy O’Rourke said it was both the affordability and its ease of access to the city that was appealing to people.
“Taupiri itself has got some little conveniences and cafes, it has got a great social scene around the pub and rugby club there. It has got a real community feel around it and that’s grown,” he said.
“It’s the affordability, but it’s not just affordability, it’s about what else is growing around that as well.”
There were also several new subdivisions in Ngaruawahia which, O’Rourke said, were also proving popular for exactly the same reasons.
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