Millions of people are self-isolating world-wide due to coronavirus. Many of them are wishing they were isolating by a quiet Kiwi beach – not in a crowded city apartment.
Which makes Kiwi bach properties as hot as ever to property-hunters, according to local real estate agents.
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins, based in Auckland, says secondary getaway properties and those with an isolated location are becoming more attractive to buyers now.
Baches on the coast, rural areas and mountains will be at the top of the buyers’ lists.
Start your property search
“I just spent a weekend at my beach house up North and we were sitting around with the family saying, ‘if things go bad in New Zealand, where would you go?’ You go to the beach house, away from the city and mass gatherings.”
He sees the current situation is making people think of a long-term plan in case another global crisis happens.
“A place in the mountains in Queenstown is now becoming more and more attractive. It [coronavirus] will get a lot more people buying nice boats and going to islands or the coast.”
Ray White agent Peter Vink, based on the coast in Ngunguru just north of Whangarei, says coronavirus is a trigger to Kiwis living abroad to come back home.
Expats are fast-forwarding their plans and looking for properties to buy and isolate in New Zealand as soon as they can.
“Coronavirus is the thing that’s making them think ‘let’s bring kids up to a smaller, friendlier and healthier environment’ that still has all the life essentials and the right infrastructure but without so many people,” Vink says.
Visitors and Kiwis living in the United States, England, Asia and Australia have actively been in touch with Vink in the past week.
“They just want some fresh air and a place where they can still maintain their professional lifestyle but in a casual manner.”
Potential buyers want to be far from the city hustle and bustle yet still have an income and work from home.
“Funnily enough, for those sorts of people high internet speed is more important than running water,” Vink says.
Based in Langs Beach north of Auckland, Bayleys agent Christine Birss also has noticed a spike of interest in coastal properties.
“People are talking about this area being very good to isolate in as they can have all the home comfort and can easily go out and about without worrying about crowds of people.”
Langs Beach is big on fishing, has walking tracks, native bush and is only a 90-minute drive from Auckland.
People are looking for semi-off-grid properties where they can work from home but also stay away from the crowds, Birss says.
“There are a lot of people from the city looking for somewhere they can live comfortably. In this area we are close to anything that people want to go to, but far enough away from high density,” she says.
Down south in Nelson agent Susa Gahl who has a few coastal listings say while she hasn’t noticed a flood of interest, Nelson feels like a different world.
Many people in Nelson have baches in the sounds and lakes and in case of self-isolation will go there.
“It’s just starting to filter down in Nelson and I imagine a few people have their head in the sand.”
Hot prospects
Check out three hot beach listings below:
------
------
