North Islanders are sweeping into a North Canterbury town as they make a “tactical” move to leave the hustle and bustle of the big smoke while still having extra money in their pockets.
Demand for lifestyle properties in or around Rangiora remains strong especially with out-of-towners drawn in by the large open spaces and a quick 15-minute drive to Christchurch International Airport.
Bayleys Rangiora salesperson Jack Pringle, who with father Mark Pringle, recently sold two lifestyle properties in Ohoka at auction where there was competitive bidding.
A 4000sqm property with a 500sqm house on Keetly Place sold for $1,570,000 with three bidders and 27 bids. There was also a fourth buyer waiting in the wings with a conditional offer.
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While a 4.117ha bare section on Moodys Road also attracted four bidders, selling for $710,000 under the hammer.
Pringle said a large number of buyers were coming from the North Island especially Auckland and Tauranga as they sought out a better deal in the south.
“I think lots of the people coming down are being quite tactical and smart about it – so they are doing it for a lifestyle change, but they are probably getting equivalent or a slightly nicer property and putting some of the money away.”
Some were also sick of Auckland’s traffic and liked the idea of being 15 minutes to the airport and 20 minutes to the centre of Christchurch.
An entry level lifestyle in or around Rangiora started around the $1m mark, but there is also a lot of demand for properties between $1m and $2m, he said.
A property on Truro Close in Ohoka recently sold for $1.1m.
“I think probably Covid has helped lifestyle properties as well because with all these lockdowns and things they just appreciate space around them more than what they perhaps have so that’s probably played into our hands a wee bit.”
A large home on a 4000sqm section at Keetly Place, in Ohoka, sold for just over $1.5m. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts Four Season agent Rhiannon Moss, who specialises in lifestyle properties, said properties were a bit slower to come up for sale, but the well-presented, tidy properties without any quirks were snapped up really quickly.
Properties priced from $1.2m and upwards were selling well and she had a few cashed-up buyers looking to find family larger family homes in the mid-$1.4m to $1.6m range who were struggling to find what they wanted.
Moss recently sold a larger property at the higher-end of the market on Orchard Place in Clarkville which sold at auction for $1.7m - 70% above its RV. The five bidders included couples from Wellington and Hamner Springs as well as local buyers.
While she was also seeing buyers coming down from Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga so they could down size their mortgage, she said some Cantabrians were also looking to downsize slightly to reduce their mortgage.
She had recently sold a property off market to a local couple who wanted to downsize their mortgage by a several hundred thousand dollars, but stay in the same area.
Rangiora was also seen by buyers as being a bit cheaper than other lifestyle areas such as Selwyn.
When Moss moved to the area seven years ago, she had to travel into Christchurch for most of her big shopping, but Rangiora had grown and now had everything she needed.
“The new Northern Corridor Motorway has just made the city so much more accessible so people are venturing a little bit further out. Once upon a time heading out to Irwell or Oxford was just too far out, but now they don’t think it’s too bad with that motorway.”
Ray White Rangiora principal Stuart Morris said out-of–town buyers were still looking for lifestyle properties in Rangiora, but those moving into the area seeking residential homes appeared to have tapered off.
A four-bedroom home on an 8ha plot at 120 Rangiora Leithfield Road, Sefton, Waimakariri, is for sale by way of deadline treaty. Photo / Supplied
He was currently marketing a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on 8000sqm at 70 Oxford Road which had seen 50 groups through the first week of listing it.
He estimated that half the residential homes they sold last year were to people outside of Canterbury and that had probably fallen to around 25% this year.
“Really good property or property that is interesting or exciting or is offering fair value is still getting strong attention from buyers – it's just there’s a bit more to choose from, they are a little more discerning and getting hold of lending is a little bit harder so they are just being a bit more choosey.”
A two-bedroom townhouse or unit could still be picked up for early $400,000, while an entry level three-bedroom house would cost between $500,000 and $600,000.
Good quality new builds less than 10 years old in areas such as The Oaks, West Park, Windsor Park and Townsend Fields subdivisions were also popular.
“Your $900,000 to $1.2m, which is high-end for us, is still getting good demand as well and that’s probably for the same reason as lifestyle in that you are seeing a few more people upgrade their life and their house by shifting locations.”
He was also starting to sell sections in the first stage of Rangiora’s newest subdivision, Bellgrove. Sections were selling from $315,000 and already the 60% of sections in the first stage had sold.
Since the earthquake, Morris said Rangiora’s infrastructure had been upgraded and there were now a lot more places for the community to enjoy. “We go to town now to get on an aeroplane if the world allows us to or maybe go out for dinner for something special, but otherwise everything is pretty good here.”
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