A bach can still be affordable, if you know where to look
Real estate searches surged in the last week of 2020 – and holiday hotspots were among the most viewed, writes Melanie Carroll.
In late December, a New Zealand house-hunter’s fancy turns to Kerikeri, according to Realestate. co.nz figures anyway.
And while places like Kerikeri are out of reach for many people looking for a bach – ‘‘beach’’ was the top keyword for the week of December 23- 29, followed by ‘‘pool’’ – New Zealand still has some affordable places to buy a holiday home.
‘‘If you want to make a bach happen for you, you can absolutely do that. It’s about what are you willing to forgo or risk,’’ said realestate.co.nz head of sales and marketing Vanessa Taylor.
It might take some creativity, for example buying a section and putting a cabin on the land until there was money to build a proper house.
‘‘ A lot of people, providing you’re allowed to with council regulations and the like, buy land and just put tents up every year, and have their own private camping ground,’’ she said.
Another option was to forget the typical two-bedroom bach on a large plot of land, and look for an apartment instead – there are no lawns to mow, at least.
New Zealand had a lot of land for the size of its population, which meant that a short drive away from a holiday hotspot there could still be beautiful beaches.
‘‘Everybody has their hotspots that they love to go to, whether it’s Northland, whether it’s Coromandel, whether it’s Nelson Bays, those key areas that your family’s already holidayed in, or that you’ve previously spent a bit of time in. So when you are there, actually go and explore the area.’’
In the South Island, Cromwell was an example of a once-hidden gem near the established tourist towns of Queenstown and Wa¯naka.
However, the key limitation on potential holiday places, she said, was the time to get there.
‘‘I still think Kiwis are looking for a piece of land within driving range or flying range – if you’re looking at a five-hour trip on a Friday afternoon you’re probably going to go far less than if it’s within two, two- and- a- half hours.’’
While Auckland Central was the most searched-for suburb on the website between December 23-29, many of the entries in the top-10 were in holiday hotspots – Mount Maunganui, Waihi Beach, Papamoa, Raglan, Whangamata¯ and Whitianga.
Northland – with an average asking price of $695,898 – was the most searched region, the most sought-after areas being Kerikeri, Mangawhai and Russell.
Coromandel ($881,908 average asking price) was the next-most searched region, especially Whitianga, Whangamata¯ and Pauanui. In the
Bay of Plenty, with a $780,475 average asking price in December, the most searched suburbs were Mount Maunganui, Waihi
Beach and Papamoa.
The fourth-most searched region was Nelson and Bays ($759,147), with Motueka, Takaka and Kaiteriteri the suburbs most of interest for people searching for residential property.
Overall, searches for residential property on the website during the week were up 16.5 per cent on a year ago.
‘‘For those people who are fortunate enough to already have home ownership, with the way the market is this year they’ve probably got quite a lot more leverage than they had at the beginning of the year,’’ Taylor said.
New Zealand’s house prices and sales have soared this year following the lockdowns, refusing to take the expected hit after Covid-19.
Record low interest rates, a resilient economy, and the inability to travel overseas has helped funnel money into the property market.
Increased acceptance of flexible working has also created a change in how, and where, many people can do their jobs. For those fortunate enough to work from home, that could be in a bach or cabin for part of the time.
For some Aucklanders, that opened up the Coromandel or Northland.
‘‘I think if we were talking in February [2019] there would still be too much stigma around working from home, and also that people were just getting in their cars and commuting and going, ‘you know what, I need to live somewhere central because I just can’t do an hour trip every morning and every night for five days a week’,’’ said Taylor.
In addition, Airbnb had made it easier to generate some income from a holiday home when it was not being used.
However, it was important to keep in mind that a holiday house would look different in winter.
‘‘ In summertime, people romanticise the idea of having a bach because it’s sunny, there’s lots of people around, it’s pumping, the cafe is open. Whereas if you actually visit in winter, the cafe’s only open from 10am to 2pm, and there’s really nobody there. ‘‘ People look at a bach from a rose-coloured spectacles, especially in these coming weeks, probably up until the end of February.’’