Is travelling hours to view a house essential?
As bach owners are being told to stay home during alert level 3, people interested in viewing real estate have free rein to journey across wide-ranging Covid-19 regions.
South Wairarapa Mayor Alex Beijen questioned the logic of allowing people from the infected wider Wellington region to enter Covid-free Wairarapa to look at a house.
‘‘When the Government in its wisdom creates a region it isn’t necessarily logical when it comes to the Wairarapa – an area that has no Covid cases and people are travelling from an area that does have Covid cases.’’
Under the Health Act (Covid19 Alert Level 3) Order, New Zealand was carved into 15 regions, and the Wellington Region group included all Lower North Island districts from Ka¯piti Coast and Masterton districts south.
A Wellington woman, who did not want to be identified, was interested in buying property in Wairarapa and she had been encouraged by multiple agencies to travel long distances to look at real estate.
‘‘The general feeling that I have got is ‘yes, come on over, other people are coming to view properties from Wellington, yes you can do it, it’s legal’,’’ she said.
Even if it was allowed, she said it didn’t seem sensible and she was going to wait until lockdown restrictions eased further.
‘‘It doesn’t make sense with what the Government is saying about staying local.
‘‘It’s not an essential reason and that’s how
I’ve looked at it and thought I’ll hold off until level 1 or level 2 until things are a lot better before I go over there.’’
A Covid-19 National Response spokesperson said prospective buyers should view a property online wherever possible, but private viewings were allowed under a range of strict conditions.
‘‘Travel within the Wellington region is permitted at alert level 3, so this would include travelling to the Wairarapa from Ka¯ piti Coast or Wellington.
‘‘However, for this purpose it should be limited to people who are serious about making an offer or are in the process of making an offer on a property.’’
Guy Mordaunt of Property Brokers Wairarapa suspected that there were potential buyers coming over the hill to look at properties, but not in large numbers.
Prue Hamill of Harcourts Hamill Realty in Masterton said they had not accepted viewings from outside Wairarapa until they received clarity from the Real Estate Institute on Monday saying that it was allowed.
She also said if it was urgent and the client needed to see the property then they could arrange it under current advice.
Masterton GP Dr Tony Becker had been working tirelessly to educate Wairarapa people about lockdown restrictions and he agreed that the definitions of regional travel were confusing.
Though there was already flow between districts for essential workers, he did not believe compromising Wairarapa’s Covidfree status to view a property warranted a special exception.
‘‘I don’t think it is at all essential at this point in time.’’