A large lifestyle property that holds the record for the Kapiti Coast’s highest sale price is back on the market as Wellingtonians continue to head north to escape the hustle and bustle.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom property at 2 Otaihanga Road, in Otaihanga, is seeking buyer enquiry over $5.75 million, which at this level would break its own record of $4.85m set in November 2019 for the Kapiti Coast.
The second highest sale in the area is held by a property on Matatua Road, in Raumati Beach, which sold for $4.45m in September 2021, OneRoof-Valocity records show.
Voyle & Co principal Mike Voyle, whose agency is selling the Otaihanga Road property, said it would be the perfect property for the region’s newest Lotto winner who won $37.125m last week after purchasing the ticket from New World Paraparaumu.
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Voyle said there is still plenty of demand for good properties and they just need sellers to feel more confident about listing properties.
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Listings have dropped from just over 500 to just over 300 in the last three months, but are still much higher than two years ago when they plummeted to around 100.
The drop in properties for sale is shifting the focus on existing stock, Voyle said.
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on Forest Lane, in Raumati South, sold within a day of listing for $2.09m, while a four-bedroom, two-bathroom property on Rosetta Road went for $2.121m in June.
Voyle said buyer demand is an even mix of people on the Kapiti Coast and Wellingtonians who continue to head north to get more bang for their buck.
“We find that the Wellington City median is a couple of $100,000 higher than ours, so Wellingtonians generally do like to come up and bank some money and buy an equivalent property, so there’s always good buyer interest from the Wellington region.”
Sold on Kapiti owner Karl Matakatea says people see the Kapiti Coast as a cool place to live. Photo / Supplied
Sold on Kapiti owner Karl Matakatea said a lot of buyers are moving from Wellington and they love the fact that they can get flat sections and double internal garages, which are hard to find in the capital city.
A high-end Graeme Boucher-designed four-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 124 Maui Pomare Road, in Paraparaumu, that is priced by negotiation is attracting interest from out-of-towners as people continue to see the Kapiti Coast as “the cool place to live”, he said.
The new Transmission Gully motorway means it’s now a 40-minute drive from Wellington City, which is one of the drawcards for people aged between 45 and 65 seeking a better lifestyle.
“The lifestyle and climate out here is just a bit better – for people who are slowing down. It’s just a little bit more accessible.”
Most people moving into the area want to spend about $1m-$1.3m. This new home on Karearea Avenue, in Waikanae, has an asking price of $1.295m. Photo / Supplied
The sweet spot for properties is in the low $1m price range, such as the near-new home at 7 Karearea Avenue, in Waikanae, with an asking price of $1.295m. There’s also demand for properties in the higher $2m-plus market, Matakatea added, but not much to choose from.
He recently sold a new property near the beach on Rosetta Road, which stars in the reality TV show Rich Listers, for $1.58m. A beachfront home on Hydes Road sold for $1.652m after 70 groups viewed it.
“Anything beach, modern, double-glazed, a little bit cool and funky is getting snapped up, especially if there are views or on the beach or just quite special.”
A beachfront home on Hydes Road, in Raumati South, sold earlier this year for $1.652m. Photo / Supplied
Tommy’s salesperson Jill Lampitt agreed that there’s a shortage of brick and tile family homes with three to four bedrooms and two bathrooms priced between $1m and $1.3m, and a lot of interest in them.
“The problem for people coming into this area is there’s such a diverse range of housing stock and that’s one of the reasons why it’s hard to find a standard brick and tile nicely built maybe late 1990s, 2005, 2006, 2007 family home in the area people want to be in, it’s really hard because they are usually the last to be sold. People stay in them.”
However, anything over the price range is slightly hard to shift as there is still a lot of anxiety around future affordability.
“I think that’s really making the buyers that are out there very cautious still and rightly so.”
Wellington buyers are also expecting to pick up properties for under its rateable value and not realising that they are not aligned with Wellington’s and are three years old, she said.
The rateable values for the area were last revised in August 2020, and the revised ones are due out next month.
“If you start talking about rateable values and sales under and over, it’s a completely different set-up compared to Wellington.”
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