There are bargains to be found in Taupo due to a surplus of properties for sale under $750,000 in the central North Island town, agents say.
With few investors and first-home buyers sniffing around, there is a disproportionate number of properties priced between $500,000 and $750,000 which agents told OneRoof are proving harder to sell than those in the higher end of the market.
OneRoof figures show there are currently more than 188 properties for sale under $750,000, with another 153 between $750,000 and $1.5 million.
Tremains Taupo sales manager Annalise Johnsen says her agency has more than 30 properties for sale under $750,000 in both Taupo and the surrounding areas.
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“At the moment it’s very hard to secure a sale on any of those properties and there are a lot of them.”
A smartly renovated two bedroom home in Tauhara is looking for offers over $499,000. Photo / Supplied
The average house sales value in the Taupo district for the three months ended June 2022 was $981,000, up 19.3% on the same period last year, according to the OneRoof Valocity data, while for central Taupo that was $798,000, up 13.4% year-on-year.
Johnsen says while property prices have dropped, they are still significantly higher than where they were at the start of 2021.
Although the glory days are gone, she adds, the homeowners are still making money on their properties.
With a large number of lower-end properties on agents' books, vendors are also starting to meet the market and have dropped their prices by tens of thousands of dollars in order to sell and move on with their lives.
Johnsen says this means there are some good deals to be had.
A two-bedroom house on half a section in a less desirable area could be found for a little as $500,000.
A four bedroom house on the outskirts of Turangi with a two-bedroom studio is asking $580,000. Photo / Supplied
A renovated two-bedroom, one-bathroom property at 2/113 Tauhara Road is taking enquiries over $499,000 while a centrally-located two-bedroom home at 1/36 Hinekura Avenue is for sale for $650,000.
Properties outside of Taupo can be snapped up for even less.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on the outskirts of Turangi at 32 Te Whakarau Street is going for $580,000 and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house on a 1012sqm section at 1 Tia Street in Atiamuri is priced by negotiation, but also falls well within the under $700,00 price bracket.
Bayleys Taupo branch manager Yvette Westerman says there are more affordable properties on the market now than last year and houses that would have sold for $600,000 or more can now be picked up in the $500,000 price range.
Before Christmas, first-home buyers may have found themselves in a feisty multi-offer situation whereas that is less likely to happen now with fewer buyers and more houses to choose from.
A three-bedroom property at 1/23 Rawhiti Street and a two-bedroom property at 3/23 Rahwiti Street are for sale by negotiation, but can be bought in the $500,000, the agent says.
Westerman expects some first-home buyers and investors to return to the market due to the changes to the CCCFA rules earlier this month, and says the lowering of prices means the numbers stack up a bit better.
A three bedroom 1970s home in Battersea Place, Richmond Heights, with views to Acacia Bay will sell for under $750,000. Photo / Supplied
“Rental prices are still really, really high and that’s not going to change because it’s not like we’ve got heaps more rentals coming to the market. We’ve got limited rentals.”
A three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on a 684sqm section at 6 Battersea Place can be purchased for under $750,000 and has a rental appraisal of $510 a week.
Slightly larger properties on the same street sold last year for $800,000 or more.
Westerman says the higher end of the market has been less impacted by the financial changes. Her agents are seeing more people from the Bay of Plenty using the equity in their current home to either buy a rental property or relocate to Taupo because they have been priced out of the Tauranga market. Lifestyle properties were also still proving popular.
Property Brokers Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional manager Simon Short says there are almost double the number of properties for sale now compared to stock levels in November and December last year.
Due to the large choice of houses for sale, buyers aren’t under any duress to make quick decisions because if they miss out on the first property there are probably five others they can look at, he says.
“That’s a sentiment that’s not exclusive to Taupo, it’s right across the stretch of our markets right now. That volume change across all cross sections of the marketplace has really doubled if not tripled the volume.”
Short said prices stabilising or dipping in some markets boded well for buyers.
“There are definitely advantages to buying in this market versus the previous market simply because you have a softening of prices happening ... and that’s good for buyers because to be fair to them, they’ve not had it their way for a long time.”
