Kathryn George
What s important about where you live? Whether it s diversity, sunshine, house prices - or something else - Stuff is helping find the Sweet Spot for you. The Christchurch city-fringe suburb Addington has been picked as our top place to live in the country, based on data including affordability, sunshine hours, prosperity and public transport. It has working class roots but is more recently known as up-and-coming, and real estate remains relatively affordable.
Alden Williams/Stuff
Addington is still a relatively affordable place to buy a home. People are beginning to appreciate its location on the edge of Hagley Park, and within 2km of the city centre, as well as its historic architecture, mixed socio-economic make-up and community feel.
That 3.1 per cent rate was also the Garden City’s strongest monthly rate of growth in at least 17 years and it took the city’s average value to $556,446 in January. CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall, who described it as a surprising turn of events, said the quarterly (5.8 per cent) and annual (9.0 per cent) growth rates remained more modest than most other cities. “But after years of very little growth the pronounced lift was significant and showed the pace of capital gains was accelerating.” He said there was probably an element of catch-up at play, as well as the low listing-strong demand equation being seen nationwide, but the fact Christchurch’s market continued to be the most affordable of all six main centres was making it attractive.
“They’re coming in and just going out again.” McPherson said the past few months had been the busiest he had seen in 30 years selling real estate.
Top Ten Real Estate Deals
The Top Ten celebrity homes listed in 2020 include Elvis Presley s honeymoon house and homes once owned by two James Bond stars - Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. As with last year, both investors and homeowners were buying, and demand was strong in all parts of the city and across all price ranges, he said. Prices were “still moving”, McPherson said. Property analyst CoreLogic’s figures show Christchurch’s average home value rose 6.2 per cent in 2020, including 3.4 per cent in the last three months of the year. The latest average value was $539,000.