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Port Hills Crown-owned red zone land.
Photo: Supplied / Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ)
Land Information Minister Damien O Connor announced the latest transfer of the Crown-owned red zoned land today.
It is part of a progressive process, with the land changing hands from Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to the council, which began last year. It builds on last year s transfer of areas in Brooklands, Southshore and South New Brighton, along with the historic Bill Sutton House in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor, O Connor said.
The Crown transferred about 440 Port Hills properties to the care of the Christchurch City Council after the 2010 earthquakes left them in danger of rockfall, land slips and cliff collapse, he said.
Nationally, median house prices in March were 24 per cent more than a year ago. The number of homes sold in Canterbury was 33 per cent higher than the previous March, part of which was affected by the Covid lockdown. Last month was the busiest March for real estate sales in the region for 17 years. Commentators are still forecasting the housing market to slow as changes to tax and borrowing rules announced last month take effect.
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For many, an affordable home is an unattainable dream, forcing tens of thousands onto the social housing waitlist. (First published October 2020) Housing market analyst CoreLogic has described levels of investment buying in New Zealand as at a “sustained peak”, with investors making up almost three in 10 buyers nationally for three months in a row.
Stuff
The bright-line test has been doubled in length and tax loopholes have been closed as the Labour Government moves on property speculators.
Demand among home buyers remains strong in Christchurch despite looming tax changes, with price growth easing in the wake of efforts to take pressure off the booming market. Landlords were caught off guard last week when the Government announced it would remove tax deductions for mortgage interest on rental properties, and double the period before a resale triggers the “brightline” tax on a capital gain. Newly built properties are exempt from the changes. Quotable Value’s (QV) area manager for Canterbury, Kris Rodgers, said price growth was slowing and the Government’s announcement could potentially help to cool the market further in coming months.
Ray White/Supplied
More than 80 families turned out to an open home in St Albans, Christchurch, ahead of its auction last week.
There is no rest for real estate agents in the lead-up to Christmas this year. The crowd of 80 families that turned up to an open home in St Albans, Christchurch, last week is a textbook example of buoyancy in the current market. The four-bedroom family home on Carrington St, within minutes of the city centre, went for $1.1 million at auction. “Open homes and on-site auctions are so busy now that we’re seeing offices use things like a Mr Whippy icecream truck to keep visitors entertained and engaged,” Ray White New Zealand s South Island regional manager, Jane Meyer, said.