More buyers go beyond main centres, says Trade Me
Kiwis are increasingly willing to look outside the main centres to buy a home, Trade Me says.
The listings website’s latest data shows that, excluding the country’s three largest centres, average asking prices were up 6.7 per cent to a new record of $525,100 in January.
‘‘We’ve been seeing the ‘haloeffect’ phenomenon for some time as Auckland property prices grew, but it’s spread well beyond that now,’’ Trade Me Property head Nigel Jeffries said.
‘‘A growing number of Kiwis are buying property outside the three major metro areas.
‘‘They often offer the potential of better work-life balance, provide investment opportunities and you can often get more bang for your buck.’’
Gisborne had the biggest rise in average asking price, up 23.1 per cent on 2018 to $381,700.
That was followed by Southland, up 10.2 per cent to a record $311,800, and Bay of Plenty, up 5.6 per cent to $644,100.
‘‘The property market usually kicks back into gear in January after the Christmas lull, but it’s pretty unusual to see average asking prices jump year-on-year in every region,’’ Jeffries said.
‘‘Plenty of New Zealanders have a new home on their New Year’s resolution list – we’ve seen a 23 per cent increase in the total number of views on property listings nationwide compared to last January.’’ CoreLogic data shows that first-home buyers are particularly active in Palmerston North, where they make up almost 30 per cent of the market, and New Plymouth, where they are just under 25 per cent.
The average price paid by first-time buyers in Queenstown is up from $420,000 in 2014 $943,000 – a rise of 125 per cent.
But that data shows that in cheaper markets, first-home buyers are making the most of lower prices to buy higherquality houses.
In Palmerston North they paid only 13 per cent less on average than the market average, and in New Plymouth 14 per cent less.
In Auckland and Queenstown, they were buying homes that were 18 per cent and 22 per cent cheaper on average. to