- First-time buyers are snapping up Hamilton homes, driving up prices, especially for sub-$800,000 properties.
- Agents report strong demand, with many homes receiving multiple offers and selling above asking prices.
- Interest rates and KiwiSaver withdrawals are motivating buyers, with competition high for properties under $750,000.
First-time buyers are pouncing on “cheap” Hamilton homes while the going is good on interest rates.
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But one real estate agent in the city believes the spike in newbie activity is already affecting prices.
Lodge agent Blair Pointon said he had recently sold four properties all within a week of them hitting the market.
Pointon said 80% of the interest was from first-time buyers targeting sub-$650,000 cross-lease homes and sub-$800,000 freehold homes.
They were also “gazumping” investors, he said.
The well-presented Nixon Street home had already been renovated and extended. Photo / Supplied
Pointon’s three-bedroom home on Nixon Street, in Hamilton East, attracted five offers before it hit the market and another nine offers the week after it was listed. The property had an asking price of $729,000 and ended up selling for $788,000.
It was a similar situation for his listing on Amanda Avenue, in Dinsdale, which sold for $700,000, and his listing on Huia Avenue, in Maeroa, which was listed for $618,000 and sold for $638,000. Both attracted around eight offers each.
Pointon also sold a two-bedroom standalone quirky do-up on Chequers Avenue, in Chartwell, for $512,000 – $23,000 above its list price.
“Everything is going a bit nuts at the moment,” he told OneRoof.
“My assumption is with interest rates starting to come down, people are saying, ‘Why do I have money sitting in my KiwiSaver? Why don’t I just buy a property and own something?’.”
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Pointon said most of the offers being presented were conditional on finance, KiwiSaver withdrawals and a building report – pretty standard first-home buyer requirements.
“Some of the people coming forward, they’ve missed out on three or four properties already. Everything under $750,000 is very hot at the moment,” he said, noting that prices were starting to rise on the back of strong demand.
Ray White Hamilton principal Mark Keesom had also seen a drastic shift in the number of first-home buyers wanting to buy in the last three weeks, with some properties selling above the asking price. “It has been crazy.”
Keesom said the houses popular with his buyers were three to four-bedroom freehold properties priced between $600,000 and $800,000.
A quirky do-up on Chequers Ave, in Chartwell, was purchased by a first-home buyer. Photo / Supplied
A two-bedroom home on Cobham Drive, in Hillcrest, sold in four days for $61,000 above its asking price. Photo / Supplied
“The renovated ones definitely seem to be moving a little bit quicker, but [buyers] are paying more money for them obviously. The ones that need a bit of work probably take a week or two [to sell] but seem to be going for not bad money.”
He added: “I think [first-time buyers] are coming to the realisation that now is the time to buy.”
Keesom cited the sale of a two-bedroom property on Cobham Drive. It fetched $756,000 – $61,000 over the expected price – with the buyer upping their initial offer and scooping up the property five days after it hit the market.
Keesom said there was still plenty of stock available. His agency has for sale 96 Newcastle Road, in Dinsdale, 69 Mears Road, in Saint Andrews, and 6 Margaret Place, in Deanwell – all in the sub-$800,000 price bracket.
Harcourts Hamilton business owner Campbell Scott said the number of first-time buyers in the market had been slowly building.
Some 13 registered buyers, including newbies, turned up to bid on a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home on Lamont Street, in Chartwell. Photo / Supplied
In the last few weeks, he had seen first-home buyers turn up to bid on a four-bedroom home on Lamont Street, in Chartwell, and another home on Fairview Street, in Fairview Downs.
Scott said there were 13 registered bidders for the Lamont Street home, which was announced on the market in the late $600,000s and sold for $790,000. The Fairview Street auction was less urgent but still got a $726,000 result for the vendor.
“We are back into that space of more of everything. I think we are not in that crazy frenetic market because I think there’s a good number of listings for sale.”
He added: “That balance between supply and demand will change quickly and the buying opportunity and or the window we’ve got to participate will close pretty soon I reckon as we start to get more buyers coming in and the rate or new buyers exceeds the rate or next listings each month supply will drop down and the prices will go up.”
He urged first-home buyers to give it a shot and not to rule out putting in multi-offers and even bidding at auction. Some properties his agency was selling that would be suitable included three-bedroom entry-level homes at 60B Mansel Avenue, in Hillcrest, 17 Fitzroy Avenue, in Fitzroy, and 8A Carey Street, in Maeroa.
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