Housing market booming in rural Taranaki
Rocketing house prices are not just contained to the major cities. The market in rural Taranaki towns is going ‘‘gangbusters’’ too.
In South Taranaki, demand is so hot buyers who wait for open homes risk missing out, Shawn Gibbon, director of Mills and Gibbon First National Real Estate in Ha¯wera, said.
‘‘As soon as a property goes live, most buyers are getting emails. They’ve found waiting until the weekend for an open home means they will be too late.’’
Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) figures released on November 12 show South Taranaki set a record median price of $345,000 for October, while New Plymouth was on $521,000, and Stratford $325,000.
And the number of sales for all of Taranaki rose 24.5 per cent, from 159 to 198 – the highest for an October month in 14 years.
Gibbon said while house prices in South Taranaki were historically lower than in the region’s city the gap was narrowing, with some house prices jumping more than 20 per cent in a year.
In Ha¯wera, one vendor made $62,000, or 22 per cent, on a home in just 13 months.
A house they bought in August last year for $273,000 was sold again in September for $335,000, and nothing had been done to it inbetween, it even had the same tenant, he said.
Another property that was sold in February 2018 for $200,100 was resold in September this year for $362,000 – an 80 per cent jump in little more than two-and-a-half years.
Gibbon said a house in Ha¯wera had also just sold for a million dollars, one of the first residential properties in the town to hit that high, and several others have
fetched prices in the early $900,000s.
Veteran realtor Selwyn Metcalfe, of Ha¯wera, said the district’s housing market was the busiest he’d ever seen and included buyers from the likes of Auckland, where the median price is now $1 million.
‘‘The market is continuing to go gangbusters, and we’re getting an influx of out-of-towners including Auckland people, moving here, semi-retired and retiring people,’’ Metcalfe said.
There was also a lot of investors, he said, which made it tough for first home buyers, who can’t compete against unconditional or cash offers.
‘‘In 40 years this is something I have never seen before.’’
Opunake realtor Viv Scott, who has worked in real estate for 22 years, remembers the days when she had 70 listings on her books. At present, she has three.
‘‘There’s buyers out there but stock is so short. Everyone wants to live in Opunake but nobody wants to leave.
In Stratford, demand for houses is also outstripping those on offer, McDonald Real Estate sales manager Danny Bates said.
‘‘We have seen an increase in listings, which is normal for this time of year and after the election, but that’s not meeting the demands of buyers.’’
‘‘I’ve been in real estate 12 years and I’ve never seen a market like this.’’