Home seekers opt to build
More people are seeing building their own home as a better financial option with the influx of Auckland investors buying up existing homes in Whangarei and wider Northland.
Local building companies say this influx has been steadily increasing over the last few months and is likely to continue.
Statistics New Zealand figures show 103 dwellings, valued at around $35 million, were granted consent in Northland in April.
That’s more than twice the number for the same month last year.
Fifty six of these dwellings were in Whangarei, 24 in the Far North (50 percent of these in the Bay of Islands) and 23 throughout Kaipara.
‘‘I think people are seeing building as the better option now... those looking for a home are turning away from the competitive market and instead, choosing to buy land and build their own dream home,’’ Brett Yakas director of Jennian Homes Northland says.
With a young family Whangarei couple Craig and Rena Belcher say they were being pushed out of the house market by rapidly rising prices.
‘‘Property prices in Northland are getting over the top for working families,’’ Rena says.
‘‘We wanted to stay at Parua Bay and looked at trying to buy an existing property but after crunching the numbers found they were $50-$60,000 more expensive and of a lesser standard than what we could build.’’
The total cost of the Belcher’s building including the section is $480,000, but similar packages deals can be purchased for around $400,000.
Rena says the biggest advantage to building was being able to have input and creativity in to the design and cost of the home their family would live.
Young families are not the only one opting to build.
‘‘There is a real mix of people coming, from retirees who have sold well and wanting to build their perfect retirement home; through to first home buyers who see it as a better option than trying to bid against the investors for an existing house,’’ Yakas says.
Managing director of Harcourts in Kerikeri also believes parts of Northland are experiencing a current mini building boom saying section and bare land sales are strong in the region.