Manawatu house sales, prices leap
House sales in Manawatu are still rising, leaping up a quarter in a year in rural areas.
Sales jumped 27 per cent in the rural areas of Manawatu in December last year, compared with December 2015, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures show.
REINZ Manawatu spokesman Andy Stewart said there was massive growth in the area’s housing market between March and July 2016.
While the market had since eased a bit, he said it was still moving.
The Manawatu/whanganui area was one of only three regions to experience a year-on-year increase in sales volumes.
The region’s number of sales rose by 10 per cent in December 2016 compared to December 2015. Southland rose 14 per cent, and Canterbury/westland rose 2 per cent.
While sales in rural Manawatu were the strongest in the region, Feilding rose by 19 per cent and Palmerston North by 16 per cent.
The housing market was benefiting from a good number of active first-home buyers and affordable interest rates, he said.
Bayley’s real estate agent Wendy Goss sold 28 former Defence Force homes to first-home buyers in Bulls, in just over a year.
Her first two homes sold for $140,000 just before Christmas, 2015. A year later the threebedroom properties were being sold for $160,000, she said.
‘‘There is a desperate need out there for low-cost houses.’’
In December 2016 the median price across the region rose to $260,000, up $20,000 – or 8 per cent – compared to December 2015.
House prices in Manawatu rural areas increased by 21 per cent, by 10 per cent in Palmerston North and 6 per cent in Levin.
Stewart said 44 of the total 118 Palmerston North homes sold in December were under $300,000.