Renovated homes in “family-centric” Wellington suburbs are attracting “phenomenal” attention and selling within days due to a shortage of building supplies and tradespeople, agents have told OneRoof
Wellington City’s property prices have tumbled by 17.8% in the last 12 months, according to REINZ’s latest house price index, but agents say there’s been a slight uptake in the number of people looking despite fewer properties being listed this spring.
An average of six groups have been traipsing through Lowe & Co’s open homes his agency in the last six weeks.
Lowe & Co Realty managing director Craig Lowe said it is a significant increase on the two groups on average they saw earlier in the year. However, it’s still less than the half the number of groups at open homes in the first nine months of 2021.
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"We are still busier now than a few months ago in terms of listings, but it’s way down on last year across the whole market.”
However, the higher number of people attending open homes could be due to there being fewer listings for them to view as sellers appear to be reluctant to list their properties due to a perception that it is not the right time to do it, he said.
But of the properties still coming to the market, ones that have been renovated to a really high quality are by far the most popular.
This is a stark contrast from three to four years ago, Lowe said, when doer-uppers were being sought out.
It also left people with doer-uppers in a bit of a conundrum over whether to renovate knowing there was a market for it and risk over capitalising or sell as is knowing it wouldn’t be as popular.
A four-bedroom renovated character home at 31 Rata Road, in Hataitai, Wellington, is seeking offers over $1.995m. Photo / Supplied
Buyers with budgets that start at $1.235m could be interested in this three-bedroom home at 45 Severn Street, in Island Bay, Wellington. Photo / Supplied
But his advice is to make sure the home was presented as the highest possible offering without over capitalising.
“So, you might go a bit further than you would have before – you might do paint, carpet, refurbish rather than renovate. Rather than doing the heavy lifting of kitchen and bathrooms focus on presentation and refurbishment rather than renovation.”
Tommy’s Real Estate salesperson Jason Lange last week sold two larger family homes in Island Bay in the mid to high $1m mark within 10 days of both properties being listed.
Lange said high-quality family homes like these with three bedrooms plus a study or four bedrooms or more in “family-centric suburbs” such as Island Bay, Karori, Lyall Bay and Hataitai are being snapped up.
While renovated homes on larger sections are even a rarer find, he added.
“Generally, if they are renovated properties, the cost of renovating now is just astronomical because building costs have gone up so people are paying a premium to have a renovated house so they don’t have to go through the uncertainty of renovating at the moment when they are in almost a material and building crisis in terms of cost escalation and that sort of thing.”
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom character home at 31 Rata Road, in Hataitai, is taking enquiries over $1.995m, while a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 47 Severn St, in Island Bay, is asking for offers over $1.235m. Both are on sections under 500sqm.
A four-bedroom house at 54 Middleton Road, in Johnsonville, Wellington, is looking for offers over $1.095m. Photo / Supplied
An entry-level two-bedroom home at 49 Hankey Street, in Mount Cook, Wellington. Photo / Supplied
Lange said some people are also weighing up being closer to the city on smaller sections or moving slightly further out to suburbs such as Johnsonville where they can find homes on larger sections for the same or less money.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom character home at 54 Middleton Road on a 994sqm section that is taking enquiries over $1.095m is a good example of what could be bought if people moved to the suburbs.
But after a significant drop in house values in the last year, property values have stabilised in the last two months, he said, and agents are no longer chasing the market down and having to slash prices in some cases by $50,000 to $70,000.
Ray White Wellington salesperson Ben Atwill believes the “well-renovated, refurbished, ready to go turnkey homes” are not only a hit with buyers, but are also more favourable with lenders too.
A renovated four-bedroom home on Liffey Street, in Island Bay, sold for $1.595m. Photo / Supplied
This do-up on Pirie Crescent, in Moera, sold to an experienced renovator for $450,000. Photo / Supplied
A beautifully renovated property at 81 Tiber St in Island Bay attracted 38 groups through the first home and sold at the end of July for $2.75m, while another on Liffey St in Island Bay saw about 30 groups through the initial open home and sold for $1.595m.
The interest in both these homes was “phenomenal” and a huge contrast to other open homes at the time where there were just several groups going through them.
“So, if it’s well done, well presented, ticks all the boxes, you are just getting this huge influx of buyers.”
Properties in the higher-end of the Wellington market between $2m and $5.5m were also still attracting a lot of buyers, he said, while investors show up if there is a real bargain to be had.
A house on Pirie Crescent in Moera that had been destroyed by the previous tenants sold under the hammer earlier this month after 17 people registered for the auction.
Atwill said market feedback for the property had been in the low $200,000s because the house had been ruined, but exceeded expectation when it sold for $450,000 to an experienced renovator.
“We are noticing a slight resurgence in the market - and this is more from the coalface - but there does seem to be a greater uptake of property. The open home numbers have increased, the number of offers on homes have increased – it does seem like there is an energy coming back into the market.”
Along with huge demand for renovated family homes, Tommy’s agent Liz Potter said interest from first home buyers in a new listing in Mt Cook asking for enquiries over $655,000 had also been “off the Richter scale”.
The two-bedroom freehold property at 49 Hankey St was listed last week and just under 40 groups have already been through the first two open homes.
Its location on the city fringe and having an outdoor living area is a major attraction for first home buyers who are looking in the $800,000 or under price range, she said.
“It’s kind of like an apartment alternative and that’s what has been the major attraction really, is that people can walk into town...’”
