- Dunedin’s average property value rose 1.3% to $700,000, the strongest quarterly increase among major metros.
- Well-presented homes priced between $500,000 and $800,000 are attracting intense buyer competition.
- Dunedin’s heritage homes often lack second bathrooms, surprising newcomers from cities with newer housing.
Dunedin has a few surprises for house-hunters looking to take advantage of its affordable prices: it’s not that easy to find a home with multiple bathrooms, and almost everyone has a hobby.
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LJ Hooker agent Pam Mulder told OneRoof she had recently met a couple from the United States who chose Dunedin after searching the globe for the ideal small city to call home (Dunedin was one of just two New Zealand locations to make the cut in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2027 list).
She has also been working with younger couples and retirees relocating from Hamilton, Nelson and Wellington.
The current owners of 365 Stuart Street have undertaken a stunning renovation on the 1930s heritage home. Photo / Supplied
One of the biggest surprises for these newcomers, she said, was how different Dunedin’s housing stock is from that found elsewhere in New Zealand.
“Go to Tauranga, and you will find more modern builds – they are a dime a dozen. We don’t have that. So when people move from Tauranga, they are like, ‘Where’s the second bathroom?’.”
Much of central Dunedin’s housing stock is made up of heritage homes, many of which still have just one bathroom unless they have undergone significant renovation.
Mulder’s listing at 365 Stuart Street in Roslyn offers the best of both worlds: heritage charm paired with modern conveniences, including a second bathroom. The four-bedroom home has recently undergone an extensive renovation.
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The striking property, dubbed Linwood, also boasts a rich pedigree. It was designed in the 1930s by renowned Dunedin architectural firm Mandeno & Fraser for Robert Forsyth Barr, founder of Forsyth Barr. The Barr family owned the home for 35 years, while the current owners have enjoyed it for the past five.
Mulder said the size of the section – it’s just over 2100sqm – was another strong drawcard. “There aren’t a lot of properties of this calibre that come up in Dunedin.”
The property is heading to auction with an RV of $2.52m and an instruction that it is seriously for sale.
Mulder said the Dunedin property market was very busy at the moment with demand for all types of property. “Buyers have definitely come out of the woodwork with the spring weather, absolutely.”
A four-bedroom home at 188 Wakari Road, in Helensburgh attracted huge interest at its first open home. Photo / Supplied
A renovated home at 4 Pioneer Crescent is in the market’s sweet spot. Photo / Supplied
The latest OneRoof-Valocity figures show the average property value in the city grew 1.3% in the last three months to $700,000, the strongest quarterly lift out of all the major metros.
Mulder said she had just received eight offers on a well-presented 1970s three-bedroom, one-bathroom home with a rumpus room at deadline. “Not every house gets eight offers, but well-presented homes are getting good interest ... people are doing their due diligence, and they are coming in with a cash offer, and they have to, because it’s competitive with good houses,” she said.
Do-up properties and homes in flood-prone areas could still be picked up for around $300,000, but buyer demand was strongest for well-presented homes priced between $500,000 and $800,000. At the top end of the market, anything above $1.5 million was considered premium.
Nidd Realty owner Joe Nidd agreed the $500,000 to $800,000 bracket was the market’s sweet spot. One of his colleagues attracted 65 groups through open homes on the first weekend alone for three listings in that price range.
The houses attracting “huge interest” included a newly renovated three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 188 Wakari Road with a price indication in the $600,000s, and a renovated four-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 4 Pioneer Crescent with a price indication in the $800,000s. Both were in Helensburgh.
“We are seeing a lot of younger and first-home buyers actually skipping the first rung of the property ladder and landing further up the market than previously.”
Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said people were moving down south for the job opportunities. Photo / Supplied
About 30 to 50% of the buyers he was seeing in the market were first-timers drawing on their KiwiSaver to fund the deposit.
“When you compare city to city, a lot of people see Dunedin as a city where there is opportunity, but they are not priced out of the market,” he said.
“In Dunedin we don’t have the crazy highs, we don’t have the crazy lows. Everything is just a little bit more moderate.”
Dunedin was also attractive to returning expats. Most had usually grown up in the city or studied there and felt it was a good place to raise a family.
Dunedin had arts, sports (it’s home to the Highlanders Super Rugby franchise), nature and was close to Central Otago and its ski fields.
“The thing about Dunedin – there’s not a lot of travel time. You’ve got more time for hobbies. It’s a very Dunedin thing – everyone has got hobbies, a lot of outdoor hobbies because you are not consuming a massive amount of time going to and from work and travelling places.”
Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said more people were moving to the South Island. “People are being attracted to jobs.”
Dunedin was also benefitting from the strong agricultural sector, and the overall feeling from the business sector seemed more positive than last year, which also contributed to a more positive property market, he said.
“Most of the South Island centres have got quite noticeably more positive trends than you see in the major urban areas in the North Island and that really does reflect the agricultural sector as well as tourism in the case of places like Central Otago and Christchurch.”
However, Eckhold said that while the University of Canterbury has seen growth in enrolment numbers in recent years, this appeared to be to the detriment of the University of Otago.
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