Time to take stock

Remember when houses on the market had a price?

Now it’s all auctions and negotiations, deadlines and POAS.

For the at-home real estate analyst/ dreamer, like myself, it’s a real nuisance. But, if I was selling, I’d be doing the same.

Marlborough had an all-time low number of houses available for sale last month. And guess what ... asking prices hit a record high too. That’s called economics.

But seriously, a search online in the under $350,000 bracket and barely half a dozen houses show up now. The rest are all sections.

A year ago, I could spend hours scrolling through the ‘charming’ threebedroom houses, with ‘spacious back gardens for the children or pets to run around’ for that price.

But that’s not even half the story. The Express has been writing about people living under bridges, in cars and in motels for years. Motels have become a very real stop-gap for many, as available rentals have all but dried up too.

So, we’ve decided to stop, take a step back and say, ‘hold on, what’s going on here?’ As they say, sometimes, ‘you can’t see the wood for the trees’.

From today, we’re launching ‘The Squeeze’, an open-ended series exploring Marlborough’s housing market, from bank to bricklayer and everyone in between.

Last week’s release of the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan has freed up some land for new homes, but, at the same time, reduced the number of properties that can subdivide (see page 5).

So there’s still a long way to go before Marlborough is out of the woods. And, no doubt, a few more trees might have to go first. But, hopefully, by shining a light on some of the issues – at a personal, social and governance level – the region will come out the other end better than ever.

Because Marlborough should be ‘brilliant every day’, for everyone.