Multi-million-dollar homes in Hawke’s Bay that fell victim to a cyclone when it wreaked havoc on the region almost a year ago can now sell for their land value only.
Several "as is, where is" properties that have been stripped back to their internal timber frames have started to hit the market as owners take their insurance payouts and look to move on from the devastating natural disaster of last February.
While some of the damaged homes have already been sold in off-market deals, more cyclone-ruined houses are expected to be listed for sale in the coming months.
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Bayleys salesperson Tony Rasmussen is selling an expansive five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 1153 Links Road, in Waiohiki, in an "as is, where is" condition.
Flood waters about 1m high entered the home when two nearby riverbanks broke after torrential rain in February. The house has subsequently been stripped of its gib and pink batts leaving just the internal timber framing.
The owners, who are in their 70s, have decided they don’t want to return to the home after the traumatic experience and have decided to downsize and sell ‘as is, where is’ rather than manage the rebuild themselves, he said.
Rasmussen said some of these ‘as is, where is’ properties represented “good bang for your buck” and could sell for land value only or below.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom lifestyle property on Links Road has been stripped back to its frames inside. Photo / Supplied
The Links Road property is inviting interest upwards of $1.2 million, which is less than its land value of $1.42m. The property has an RV of $2.36m.
“Really, it’s the case of sort of a final clean up and re-fitout and you’ve got yourself a 350sqm lovely home on a 7ha bit of land well located and for somewhere slightly over $1m bucks – you wouldn’t build a house to that stage.
“You’ve got a property that (undamaged) in the peak of the market in my view would have exceeded $2.5m.”
The area has been zoned category one which, according to the Hastings District Council website, is low risk of flooding and only required repairs to its previous state to manage future severe weather risk events.
“Previous to the cyclone, you wouldn’t have thought in 100 years it would have flooded in this location. It’s really well located just off the expressway, close to Taradale and SH50 – it’s very accessible as far as the location and the main Napier Waiohiki Golf Course is just next door.”
Rasmussen said there had been a lot of interest from builders to large families looking for properties with plenty of bedrooms.
One family considered moving in and slowly re-gibbing the rooms week by week, he said.
An architecturally-designed home at 664A Swamp Road, in Puketapu, that was also flooded during the cyclone is only nine years old. Photo / Supplied
The interior of the house needs rebuilding. Photo / Supplied
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom home designed by award-winning architect Simon Clarkson and built by builder Robert Lang just nine years ago is being sold by negotiation after suffering significant damage during Cyclone Gabrielle.
The home’s interior has been stripped back to its frames leaving the impressive David Trubridge light fittings dangling from the ceiling as some of the only remaining fittings left. The 12m inground pool remains too.
The property at 664A Swamp Road, in Puketapu, is also zoned category one and, according to the listing by Property Broker salesperson Avram Deitch, required an “astute buyer or savvy investor” to rebuild it. The home is priced by negotiation and has an RV of $2.42m, which includes a land value of $790,000.
Meanwhile, a smaller four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 147 Swamp Road, in Fernhill, which is being marketed by Bayleys agent Kris August, is another bare shell for sale.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 147 Swamp Road, in Fernhill, is also being sold 'as is, where is'. Photo / Supplied
It has been stripped and is ready for relining and refurbishment. Photo / Supplied
The 6739sqm lifestyle property was built by Platinum Homes seven years ago, the listing said, and was ready for re-lining and refurbishment after undergoing internal stripping. It has a rateable value of $1.388m, of which $740,000 is land value and is priced by negotiation.
Tremains Central Region general manager Stuart Christensen said homeowners were starting to weigh up their options which included selling ‘as is, where is’, fixing the home and living in it, or rebuilding and then on-selling.
“You’ve got people that are living in rental properties or tents on their site or whatever and their insurance companies are starting to finish subsidising the rents and people are going so what does that look like.”
The agency was also starting to list properties that had been remediated and were now in a better condition to what they had been before the cyclone.
“There’s no doubt about that those homes that have been affected that have been fixed now are worth more than what they were before because they are brand new inside and sometimes outside as well, so they’ve got new kitchens, bathrooms, linings, floor and the likes.”
A remediated lifestyle property on Jessep Road, in Meeanee, that had been rebuilt after being damaged in the cyclone was one of the first properties to be listed for sale in a remediated condition. Multiple offers were made on the property and it sold for $1.525m in November.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Vaughan Wilson said the buyers could not move back to their own flood-affected home in Pakowhai because the area had been red-zoned and had been looking for a comparable lifestyle.
“They are still getting what they are used to and the convenience of being close to everything, but without being stuck between two bridges and being stuck in your location.”
The Jessep Road home, in Meeanee, was the first remediated property to hit the open market after being damaged by flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Supplied
Most people looking at the property had not been put off by the fact that it had undergone flood repairs, he said, which was a good sign for other remediated properties due to be sold this year.
“It was good to see that the market was well received to what had happened. We only had a couple of people come in and find out what had happened and turn around and walk out. Everyone else thought it was a great property and it did work, or it didn’t work for other reasons and it ended up having multiple offers on the day.”
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