- Investor Steve Goodey says first-home buyers are reviving Wellington’s housing market after a 30% price drop.
- Properties priced between $700,000 and $1.1m are attracting strong interest, especially from first-time buyers.
- Craig Lowe emphasises realistic pricing for competitive results, with some homes receiving multiple offers.
Is the “pram and dog crowd” pulling Wellington’s depressed housing market out of a hole?
Start your property search
Long-time Wellington property investor Steve Goodey thinks so. He told OneRoof that he recently picked up the phone to find out about 35 properties that had been on the market for some time. He was pleased to hear that half had found a buyer.
The properties on his list were some of the capital’s cheapest, and, in his view, required only cosmetic renovations to turn them into first-home, buyer-friendly homes.
Goodey said the recent cut to the Official Cash Rate – and a 30% fall in house prices since the post-Covid peak – had made the market more attractive to buyers who had been sitting on the sidelines.
Investor Steve Goodey has noticed increased attendance at open homes in Wellington from the "pram and dog crowd". Photo / Getty Images
The seven homes he inspected last weekend were packed with first-time buyers. “It was the pram and dog crowd,” he said. “It felt as if first-home buyers have suddenly said to themselves, ‘Well, s***, you know it’s now or never for us to get in the market’.”
He added: “First-home buyers can probably get another $30,000 or $40,000 more to spend on a house than they thought they could six months ago.”
One of the properties he viewed was a villa in Petone that required a bit of work, which he was told would probably sell before the tender closed.
Discover more:
- Auckland mayor's old home for sale after stunning makeover
- YouTube stars sell their dream home as they quit NZ for Australia
- Overseas buyers spend $28m at exclusive Bay of Islands estate
“It’s not the agents fluffing it up; there’s actually some real urgency now.”
Some of the sale conditions were tightening, with buyers now shaving back the 20-day conditions to 10 days and adding a four-day cash-out clause, which wasn’t the case six months ago.
“I don’t think we are back to old times at all, but by God, it’s nice to see some green shoots or some sort of recovery. It’s been a long time coming.”
Lowe & Co managing director Craig Lowe said the first-home buyer market, between $700,000 and $1.1m, was definitely the busiest part of the Wellington housing market.
Houses weren’t flying out the door, but those with realistic price tags were attracting good interest, he said.
Wellington house prices have dropped by 30% since hitting a post-Covid high. Photo / Getty Images
“Prices are kind of back at 2019 levels. It’s like almost a third has been knocked off since the peak. If you price appropriately, you can get a multi-offer situation and a good result for the current market, but it relies on the owner being realistic.”
Lowe and his colleague Megan Ridley recently sold a three-bedroom home on Darlington Road, in Miramar. The do-up property attracted eight offers, mainly from first-home buyers, and sold for significantly more than its $765,000-plus price indication.
“It’s a great example of an appropriately priced property getting a lot of interest from first-home buyers in this current market. If owners are realistic, then they can get competitive results,” Lowe told OneRoof.
He said there were plenty of options for first-time buyers on the hunt for a classic, standalone home in the suburbs. “It’s actually surprising what you can buy in the city now ... even in those traditionally more expensive suburbs such as Miramar, Berhampore and Island Bay.”
Harcourts Team Group chief executive Marty Sharpe said it was still very much a buyer’s market in Wellington right now, noting there was 16 weeks of housing stock for sale.
“There are good opportunities out there – heaps of them.”
He advised vendors to present well and price realistically from the get-go.
“For the ones that have been on the market for a bit of time, if you haven’t got your pricing right or you haven’t been through a campaign and understood where your property sits in the current climate, then those open homes drop off and it’s really noticeable. The numbers are better in the first few weeks, when it’s critical you are doing the right thing.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Wellington
