First-home buyers scooped up a two-bedroom cottage in the Coromandel beach town of Whangamatā – a week after the property hit the market with an asking price of just over $1 million.
The young buyers plan to live in the tidy two-bedroom 1990s house, which is several blocks back from the beach.
Whangamatā Real Estate said the property attracted two offers in its first weekend of open homes, and noted that the quick sale was a sign the market had improved in the popular tourist spot.
The agency had sold another two-bedroom home, a cute 1950s-era bach, just weeks earlier for $950,000. The Otahu Road property was snapped up by out-of-town buyers who are planning to make a permanent shift to Whangamatā.
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Whangamatā Real Estate agent Andrew McGee said the market in Whangamatā had stabilised. “If a property is well priced, it won’t last long [on the market].”
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He added: “We’ve had a couple of interesting big sales, which is good, but I think the sales are pretty much through the whole market. We’ve seen a sort of resurgence, particularly at entry level.”
McGee said that meant homes in the $700,000 to $900,000 price bracket were selling well, and often to owner-occupiers.
At the upper end of the market, he had lists of buyers waiting for a prized beachfront home to come up for sale.
Talk of the town is last month’s sale of the brand-new mansion on Pipi Road, which sold for a secret sum after four months on the market.
The sale price is expected to break the town’s previous sales record of $7.41m, although listing agent Lea Jurkovich, of Bayleys, is keeping mum on the details.
A luxury new build on Pipi Road sold last month for what is likely to be a record sum. Photo / Supplied
If it is a record, it may not stand for long. Whangamatā Real Estate manager Murray Cleland is set to bring another stunning beachfront property to market later this month with an asking price of $8m.
He told OneRoof the house on Beverley Terrace was “one of a kind”, and in a prime spot.
Ray White principal Reuben van Dorsten told OneRoof sales figures for March pointed to a lift in the market, and argued it was a misconception that buyers disappeared in the winter.
“It’s a good time to be in the market. There’s a reasonable number of people looking to buy now. They want to be in their new home by Christmas and if they wait until spring, they might not be,” he said.
One of his agents, Roxy Pease, has listed a smart four-bedroom bach at 227B Ocean Road, which is going to auction on June 15. “An auction means people will meet the market. The vendors are looking to achieve the best result,” van Dorsten said.
“It’s a great property in a super location that ticks a whole lot of boxes, it’s minutes from the surf club, close to town, it’s got a nice new kitchen, a lockable boat carport.
A family bach on 227B Ocean Road will be auctioned on June 15. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve had several people through the open homes as auction properties tend to bring out those genuine buyers.”
Bayleys agent Dale Sholson said he had seen more traditional family baches come to market in the last six months. He said these properties were typically bought in the 1960s and 1970s and had been tightly held over multiple generations.
However, he was not getting the sense that owners were quitting their holiday homes to shore up finances – which was common after the GFC.
“We don’t have any fire sale situations or anything like that. And there are buyers still looking and talking to us, just like the old days,” he said.
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