One of the most-sold properties in Papakura was built in the 1960s, with three bedrooms, one bathroom and a garage. It remained in the same hands until April 2012 when it sold for $208,000. Its price rose for each of the six transactions between then and December 2016, when it was bought for $640,000. The next buyer was in luck however – when it next sold, in December 2019, the last time it changed hands was for $557,000. Its current value estimated by homes.co.nz is between $630,000 and $690,000.
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This Papakura house has changed hands eight times since it was built in the 1960s. One of New Zealand’s most transacted properties was a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Hamilton, built in 1990. It first sold in March 1990 for $75,5000. It sold another 35 times until its last purchase, for $575,000 in March 2020, just before the level 4 lockdown.
UNSPLASH
Real estate agents are all over the map when asked to predict whether the colder weather will see a cooling off of the housing market.
The best time to sell a property has historically always been spring, when buyers were neither sunning themselves at the bach, nor on a three-week mid-winter escape to Europe. Some houses simply can t be made to look their best in the dark and cold of winter. But that’s in a normal year – and we all know that things are far from normal right now. After months of prediction-busting house price rises, will we still see a cooling off of listings along with the weather?
“A combination of low interest rates, low supply and a fear of missing out are driving prices to values that would have been unbelievable even a few months ago.” The results didn’t come as a big surprise given how the market had been trending, he said. But while sale records were spread nationwide, it was Dunedin which set the most records, with 11 different suburbs in the city seeing new highs. Three Dunedin suburbs – Vauxhall, Waldronville and Bradford – set new sales records of more than $1.4m while another three – Ocean View, Glenross and Tainui – turned in sales records which topped $1m.
Auckland, which now has a median value of $1 million, dominates the most expensive suburbs. Of the 10 most expensive suburbs, nine are in Auckland and one is in Wellington, according to Homes.co.nz. The 10 most expensive suburbs are Herne Bay, Saint Mary’s Bay, Shamrock Park, Oriental Bay (Wellington), Westmere, Ponsonby, Stanley Point, Remuera, Epsom and Campbells Bay. Their median price ranges from $1.94m in Campbells Bay up to $3m-plus in Herne Bay. Homes.co.nz chief data scientist Tom Lintern says the $2m club is now eight suburbs strong, with Herne Bay being the only suburb with median values exceeding $3m.
THREE
Even the locals wonder at the sense of building a new house on a beach that is eroding every year, but Mark and Pip Pennington are up for it.
Summer holiday-makers dreaming of buying their own waterfront property will have to be ready to spend big bucks, new data shows. Waterfront homes tend to come with a hefty price premium and properties in New Zealand’s summer hot spots command some of the largest, according to Homes.co.nz. The iconic beachside town of Mount Maunganui tops the premium list. Homes.co.nz estimated that the median value of properties within 50 metres of the ocean was over $2.3 million, which was almost 150 per cent above the town’s median of $923,462.