KiwiBuild on par with private market
The KiwiBuild homes that sell are generally selling on par with homes on the private market, data released to Stuff shows.
While some homes have taken a significant length of time to sell – up to 100 days – and many remain on the market, the median time to sell for the 60 KiwiBuild homes sold so far is 15 days after being offered on the private market – or after a 30-day ballot period is completed.
A further 75 homes were still on the market as of March 4 when the data is current to, but half of those had only been put on sale within the previous fortnight.
The 15-day median is three times faster than the 48-day median time to sell a house in a normal sale during February, according to data from the Real Estate Institute. The median time to sell throughout all of 2018 was 37 days.
But KiwiBuild homes are not sold in the same way as regular homes. Most of the 60 homes were advertised on a ballot for roughly four weeks before becoming available to sell at the end of that process. Adding the ballot time in, KiwiBuild homes sell at a median rate of 45 days after first being advertised – roughly on par with the wider market.
The data, released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, shows the days between a home being available to buy and a conditional purchase being made, as of March 4.
Homes become available to buy either at the end of the ballot process or when they are offered on the open market.
Four homes sold on the first day they were available.
One home in Auckland sold in 100 days while another in Wanaka took 91 days. Every other house took less than 33 days.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford said the data showed KiwiBuild was an attractive offer for first-home buyers.
‘‘What people want is the opportunity to buy great homes at an affordable price,’’ Twyford said. ‘‘The constant negativity from the Opposition is so out of step with the desire of New Zealanders to see a government actively work to build affordable homes.’’ He said it was natural that with a project this large – the policy aims to build 100,000 homes over 10 years and more than 10,000 are already contracted – some individual homes may run into problems.
National Party housing spokeswoman Judith Collins attacked Twyford last week over a ‘‘buying off the plans’’ initiative that featured six homes that were erected months before the deal was signed. Twyford has defended the deal by pointing to the fact it would eventually result in 104 KiwiBuild homes. ‘‘The focus on an individual house is ridiculous,’’ Twyford said.
He has admitted that the demand modelling work done on some developments needed to be improved, particularly after the Wanaka case, which still has six homes for sale long after the ballot was completed.
‘‘There’s no question that demand modelling needs to be improved and it is already happening,’’ Twyford said.
He is currently ‘‘recalibrating’’ KiwiBuild after admitting the programme was unlikely to make its first-year target of 1000 homes built by July – instead reaching 300. But Twyford was clear the Government was committed to the policy. ‘‘This is a 10-year commitment. It’s a core plank of our Government’s programme. We are completely undeterred by the constant negativity of the Opposition.’’
Only 359 Kiwis have bought or pre-qualified to buy a KiwiBuild home – a somewhat rigorous process that involves lawyers’ fees and proof of financing. Twyford said he wasn’t surprised by this given most people wouldn’t do this before seeing a house they definitely wanted, and only 341 homes were either complete or being built right now.