- Waikato-Tainui purchased 18 properties in South Auckland and Waikato for over $10m.
- The properties will be sold to tribal members at cost to boost homeownership among iwi.
- If no offers are received by the sale deadlines, the properties will be sold on the open market.
Iwi have snapped up close to 20 properties in South Auckland and Waikato for more than $10 million.
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Waikato-Tainui plans to sell the 17 houses and one section to tribal members at cost to increase homeownership among iwi.
The batch includes seven properties in Hamilton, four in Papakura, three in Pukekohe and four in Te Awamutu.
Kāinga Ora’s general manager of housing delivery Caroline McDowall confirmed it was in the process of selling the properties to Waikato-Tainui.
Waikato-Tainui has already listed the properties for sale on its website, with iwi members able to buy the homes at cost. Individual prices range from $425,000 for land in St Andrews, Hamilton, to $735,000 for a two-bedroom standalone property in Auckland’s Papakura. The total value of the properties is $10.385m.
A two-bedroom standalone home in Hamilton East has an asking price of $670,000. Photo / Nikki Preston
The properties are all being sold “as is, where is” via a deadline sale process run by iwi. Tribal members are invited to fill in an expression of interest form based on the listing photos. They will then be given the exact address and invited to a viewing, the website says.
If no formal offers are received by the deadline (the last of which is December 24), the properties will be sold on the open market.
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OneRoof has identified several of the properties for sale, including three in the historic Hayes Paddock in Hamilton East.
A two-bedroom riverside duplex with an RV of $830,000 is priced at $595,000, while a duplex with an RV of $680,000 is asking $570,000. A standalone two-bedroom property with an RV of $680,000 has a price tag of $670,000.
OneRoof contacted Waikato-Tainui about the properties, asking why it had purchased them, who was eligible to buy them and what the uptake had been.
A Waikato-Tainui spokesperson pointed OneRoof to its settlement legislation for a more informed understanding of the RFR mechanism and “how and why the RFR mechanism has been included in almost every settlement package since 1995”.
Waikato-Tainui iwi leader Tuku Morgan. Waikato-Tainui is keen to increase homeownership rates among iwi. Photo / Supplied
“This provides critical context, and how we manage RFRs is a matter for us and our tribal members,” the spokesperson said.
It is the second iwi group this year to buy state homes from the Government under the Right of First Refusal (RFR) process.
Kāinga Ora declined to confirm the sale prices until after settlement, but said they were in line with market valuation. The sales would become unconditional once Toitū Te Whenua – Land Information New Zealand had completed the process of removing a note from the property titles that the land is subject to RFR. It did not give a date when this would be.
The Dixon Street Flats, in Te Aro, Wellington. The building was sold to iwi for $1.04m. Just weeks later, iwi sold the property for $3.04m. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Earlier in the year, Kainga Ora sold a handful of run-down houses in Hamilton on the open market. The properties were marketed by Lugtons agents Fraser Kilgour and Abbie Hyde.
Most of the properties attracted strong interest from investors and flippers. The sale prices ranged from the low $500,000s to mid $700,000s.
Kāinga Ora confirmed Waikato-Tainui is only the second iwi to purchase properties from Kāinga Ora this year as part of the RFR. Taranaki Whānui Limited, the commercial arm of Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, bought the Dixon Street flats in Wellington for $1.04m, which was under the market valuation. The ex-social-housing block was then resold to developer The Wellington Company for $3.04m in a contemporaneous settlement.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Hamilton
