Strong demand for lifestyle blocks

Canterbury lifestyle property is in strong demand, driven by buyers from outside the region and overseas.

Interest in the properties is high, according to Alex Cooney, a lifestyle property specialist with Colliers.

“There’s definitely been a big increase since Covid. People are seeing the appeal of living in the country yet close to such great amenities. Aucklanders who’ve battled traffic for years can’t believe it. We’ve noticed that many prospective buyers of lifestyle blocks here don’t even have any particular previous history with Canterbury.

“Word is getting out.”

For instance, Cooney recently marketed six four-hectare bare land blocks in West Melton, a small town west of Christchurch. They all went under offer in the first week post release, with some of the blocks fetching up to $145,000 above the current Rating Valuation.

Out of the 20 plus offers received, several came from outside the region with three of the six buyers from Tauranga, Sydney and Dunedin – most of them making the move to Canterbury for the first time.

Fellow Colliers lifestyle specialist Richard Innes says there’s now a shortage of suitable properties such is the demand.

“One of my recent marketing campaigns of a substantial lifestyle property unearthed another 50 potential buyers looking for a similar quality property who are willing to pay up to $2.5 million.

“Post Covid people seem to be far more prepared to commute and work from home some of the time so location is of less importance – especially for international buyers and others in the North Island.”

Data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows there were 2,471 New Zealand lifestyle property sales in the three months ended February 2021, compared to 1,769 lifestyle property sales for the comparable 2020 period (+39.7%). In the year to February 2021, 9,244 lifestyle properties were sold, 27.5% more than the same period in 2020. The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to February 2021 was $845,000.

Eleven of the fourteen regions recorded an increase in sales with Canterbury observing one of the biggest increases.