The chances of picking up a home in New Zealand for under $500,000 have significantly increased, as a result of the year-long housing market downturn.
OneRoof analysis of the 1145 suburbs with 10 or more settled sales in the past 12 month, identified 110 with an average property value of less than half a million dollars - up from 93 a year ago.
Most of the newest members of the sub-$500,000 club are in Manawatu-Whanganui and Otago, with the average property value in some suburbs dropping by more than $100,000.
According to the latest Oneroof-Valocity House Value Index figures, the cheapest suburb for property in New Zealand is Murupara, in Whakatane, Bay of Plenty. Its average property value is $174,000, down 1.1% ($2000) year-on-year.
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The cheapest metro suburb is South Dunedin, in Dunedin, which has an average property value of $402,000, down 13.9% ($65,000) year-on-year.
Christchurch and Dunedin are the only major New Zealand metros to still have suburbs with an average property value of less than $500,000 (five and six respectively), but Invercargill is the town with the most sub-$500,000 suburbs overall.
OneRoof has more than 3500 residential properties listed for sale with a search price of $500,000 or less. Of those, 1557 have declared price tags. These bargain basement homes are sometimes fully renovated, sit on big plots of land and are in desirable locations.
We've picked out some of the more eye-catching options below.
For $425,000 buyers get a grand four-bedroom home at 36 Chapel Street, in Greymouth.
The renovated period home, which sits on a 878sqm section, has sweeping views of the town and could have been teleported from Wellington’s hill suburbs, is described as “DEAL OF A LIFETIME” by the listing agent, Deedee Daly, of Greg Daly Real Estate.
The home is likely to sell to an out-of-towner, says Daly. “We’re still getting about 80% of our buyers on the West Coast from [outside the region]. People are selling up their more expensive homes in other parts of New Zealand and coming to live here mortgage-free.”
A four-bedroom home on an 878sqm section at 36 Chapel Street, in Greymouth, West Coast, is priced at $425,000. Photo / Supplied
13 Tindale Road, in Greymouth, West Coast, is a large three-bedroom home seeking offers over $360,000. Photo / Supplied
There is no shortage of large affordable properties in West Coast. Close to Daly's listing is 13 Tindale Road, another renovated hillside home which is seeking offers over $360,000.
There are so many sub-$500,000 properties on the market in New Zealand that it’s easy to get lost in listings. People who work from home, or have transportable jobs and families, can live a whole lot better by keeping their minds open about where they live.
A stylish two-bedroom home at 118 Huatoki Street, in Frankleigh Park, New Plymouth, is seeking offers over $469,000 and the listing agent says it's a rare find.
Emma Taylor, of Powers Realty, says the vendors have given the interior of their rustic bach-like home a contemporary makeover.
“It’s a really simple home, but the owners have embraced the quirkiness in their cottage,” says Taylor.
A smart two-bedroom home at 118 Huatoki Street, in Frankleigh Park, New Plymouth, is looking for offers over $469,000. Photo / Supplied
The property comes with more than one bonus. The first is that the home is on a full site. “It’s quite a rare thing to have a property on a full freehold site, in a good location in New Plymouth that would be below $500,000,” says Taylor.
The second bonus is that it comes with two decent-sized outbuildings. That includes a consented basic sleepout providing an extra bedroom, and a workshop that could, with an easement added, become a garage.
For a truly unique home with a funky vibe, 4 Driver Street, in Long Beach, in Dunedin, is half home-half train carriage, with a modern kitchen and bathroom.
The home has a history. When the current owner moved in, an anonymous letter was dropped in his letterbox tracing the train carriage’s lineage back to the 1880s, and its construction in the Addington Railway Workshops, says real estate agent Laura McKinney of Nidd Realty.
The story goes that after the carriage’s useful life ended in the railways in the 1940s it was bought by the Driver Street homeowner for £20. According to the letter, it took two days to lower the carriage down the hill onto the property. “Long Beach would have been quite remote in those days and the road was gravel,” says McKinney.
Inside the train carriage part of the house at 4 Driver Street, in Long Beach. Photo / Supplied
The carriage/cottage has been renovated in recent years. “It’s definitely tidy, especially compared to a lot of properties [in Long Beach],” says McKinney. The rail carriage half of the property houses the kitchen and dining room at one end and a bedroom at the other.
The carriage is connected to the other half of the house via doors. McKinney expects that the home might be bought as a short-term rental, thanks to its proximity to popular climbing areas and the good surf beach. She is also seeing interest from potential owner-occupiers who work from home.
Most parts of Te Wai Pounamu, in the South Island, tend to offer some good buying in the sub-$500,000 range. It’s not unusual to get a fully renovated family home for that price. Case in point is 99 Tiverton Street, Palmerston, which comes with a new kitchen fit for a chef, and a huge deck for eating the cuisine on.
The 120sqm house, which is seeking enquiries over $469,000, has its own paddock for chickens or other livestock and a garden, and has been fully modernised, says Hope Familton, of Tall Poppy.
A renovated three-bedroom home at 99 Tiverton Street, in Palmerston, Waitaki, is seeking offers over $469,000. Photo / Supplied
A renovated 58sqm one-bedroom freehold apartment at 85 Beach Road, in Auckland Central, is priced at $485,000. Photo / Supplied
Even Aucklanders can buy a home for less than $500,000. That usually means an apartment, leasehold home, or at the very far reaches of the city such as Pukekohe.
In the case of apartments there is quite a bit of choice in the sub-$500,000 price range, especially in the central city. Apartment Specialists agent Oliver Booth listed a 58sqm one-bedroom apartment for sale at 85 Beach Road, in Auckland CBD. Although Beach Road is dominated by leasehold apartments, this one is in a freehold building.
Booth expects the apartment will appeal to the first-home buyer market. Otherwise investors might be looking at short-term rental possibilities. “First-home buyers don’t always need a carpark in such a great location and they can save $60,000 to $100,000 [without one],” says Booth.
What buyers do get is proximity to Auckland University and the Britomart train station. Within the complex they get access to a rooftop swimming pool.
- Click here to find more sub-$500,000 properties for sale
