Holiday homes at the southern-end of Lake Taupō are smashing records, with a property in Motuoapa selling for a record $1.225 million as residents look to escape Taupō’s hustle and bustle for quieter village life.
The luxury home on Parekaawa Drive in Motuoapa sold for the second time in just over a year with the owner making a tidy $125,000 profit.
Tremains Taupō agent Amanda Colling, who marketed the property with colleague Husk Halligan, said the record price was “a little bit surprising” given the home didn’t have a lake view, but the near-new home was both high-spec and backed onto a reserve in the newer residential regions of Motuoapa.
“People do want lake views because it is a holiday area, but obviously the location of this one and just how superior the home was and the layout – it was very stylish,” she said.
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The owner purchased the house in March last year, styled and fenced the property before deciding to sell to move closer to family.
The Parekaawa Drive sale pips the previous record holder, a three-bedroom home on Kahotea Drive, which sold for $1.15m in February.
The view across Lake Taupō. Photo / Galyna Andrushko
Colling said they are seeing a lot of Taupō residents relocate to Motuoapa including the new owners of Parekaawa Drive.
“People are selling in Taupō to free-up some money and obviously they can still get a modern home that’s double glazed in a quieter area, and only being 20 to 25 minutes to Taupō certainly has been the drawcard.”
On the other side of the lake, properties in Omori and Kuratau are being bought mainly as holiday homes unless people are moving to a lifestyle property, she said.
A property in Ngapera Way holds the record for the highest sale price in Omori selling for $3.4m in November last year.
In Kuratau, a lifestyle property on Te Puke Road sold for $1.9m in October 2021, while a lakefront residential house on Parehopu Street sold for $1.85m in April 2018.
This three-bedroom home on Kahotea Drive sold for $1.15m in February. Photo / Supplied
Colling said Kuratau is extremely popular because it is close to the lake and flat.
“It’s a very friendly holiday area and very safe so people do like it and once they do come to the area it’s got great swimming beaches so I think that’s what draws people in.”
People from all over the North Island including Hawke’s Bay, Tauranga and Wellington purchase holiday homes in the “quaint” villages.
The new motorway has also helped make the area more accessible by making the drive time shorter, she said.
There is also a shortage of holiday homes for sale, she added, and over Christmas a record 60 people visited one open home in Manunui Street in Kuratau with 10 offers made on the property which sold for $961,500.
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Kaiuru Avenue, in Pukawa, recently sold for $905,000.
Colling and Halligan are also about to list a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 9 Te Awha Place, in Kuratau, and a six-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 6 Kaiuru Ave, in Pukawa, and both are deadline sales.
Bayleys Turangi agent Paulane McLean, who sells properties on the western side in Kuratau, Omori and Pukawa, has a waiting list of people looking for holiday homes in the all-season destination.
A four-bedroom home at 21 Parerohi Grove, in Pukawa, Taupō, is on the market for sale. Photo / Supplied
“In the winter we have skiing, in the in-between seasons we have all the walks - the Tongariro Crossing and things like that, and in the summer, we have the lake and we still have all the walks.”
There are about 1100 homes in Omori and Kuratau, and about 120 are permanent homes, whereas Pukawa has about 400 homes and about 40 are lived in full-time.
“It’s basically a holiday home area with a small amount of locals.”
The majority of buyers she deals with come from Wellington, Palmerston North, Kapiti Coast, New Plymouth and Hawke’s Bay.
When McLean moved to the area five years ago, houses were selling in the $200,000s range but now entry-level properties are in the $700,000s bracket.
“The market has softened probably over the last five or six months, but it hasn’t crashed. It just seems to have softened slightly but then again for the right house we are getting amazing prices for our clients.”
A three-bedroom home at 19 Kamahi Terrace, in Omori, Taupō, has an asking price of $750,000. Photo / Supplied
McLean said whether a property sells quickly or not comes down to the individual property. She recently sold a house within 10 days of it being listed on the market, while another has been for sale for more than four months.
“There is no rhyme and reason. It just depends entirely on the property.”
“The stock level is very low and I think because it is low this is why we get so much interest in everything that comes on because people want to live out there. It’s a beautiful place, it’s more sheltered than the other side of the lake.”
McLean said people seem to prefer Kuratau because it is closer to the lake.
She’s currently selling a three-bedroom, two-bathroom holiday home with lake views in Omori with an asking price of $750,000, while a lifestyle property on 4.3ha at 21 Parerohi Grove, in Pukawa, has a set sale date. 17 Parerohi Grove, in Pukawa, and 12 Huriwaka Street, in lower Kuratau, are also on the market.
- Find more properties for sale in Taupō here.
