- Homes in Bluff are selling for as low as $100,000, offering affordable options compared to major centres.
- Many properties require renovation, but some are liveable and cheaper than an Auckland house deposit.
- Bluff’s market includes older cottages under $200,000 and opportunities for profit through renovation and resale.
Buyers lamenting the $1m-plus price of homes in New Zealand’s major centres should look south to Bluff, where homes sell for as little as $100,000.
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Most, but not all, need buyers willing to roll their sleeves up, but OneRoof has found liveable homes in Bluff and nearby Southland settlements that could be owned outright for less than an Auckland house deposit.
One of the lowest-priced homes in Bluff on the market has a $145,000-plus price tag. The listing for the three-bedroom weatherboard at 15 Henderson Street, makes clear buyers will be taking on a renovation project.
“Step into this original 1910 weatherboard home - a genuine renovation project for those looking to take on a property with plenty of scope for improvement,” wrote Professionals listing agent Tracey Cheyne.
15 Burrows Street, Bluff, has a $105,000 price tag. For that, buyers get a 506sqm freehold section with a relocatable sleepout. Photo / Supplied
A run-down home on Lagan Street, in Bluff, sold for $100,000 at the end of last year and has since been renovated to a liveable state. Photo / Supplied
“Offering three bedrooms, this home is ready for someone to come in and breathe new life into it. Repair, update, and redesign to suit your vision. It’s an opportunity for renovators, investors, or anyone wanting a hands-on project.”
The property, which sits on a 395sqm section, has a 2023 RV of $117,000 and last changed hands for $69,500 in 2018.
First National agent Jill Quaid has at nearby 15 Burrows Street a 506sqm freehold section that comes with a relocatable sleepout. It is on the market for $105,000.
Quaid, who, in addition to working as a real estate agent, owns Sold Cafe and Gifts in Bluff, said that there were three distinct types of homes in the coastal town.
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“We’ve got the older cottages on a quarter acre. If it hasn’t been done up, it is in that under $200,000 band. Then you go up to the next category, which is Ocean Beach, 1950s, 60s, 70s era of housing. These red brick and the stucco [homes] sit at around $390,000. Then you’ve got the multimillion-dollar housing,” she told OneRoof.
A single $1m deal in a year when there are only 50 homes sold can skew the statistics, she said.
Outsiders may not realise that there is money to be made in the town. “Bluff is quota. Crayfish quota. There’s cod. There’s oyster. So, we’ve got that multimillion-dollar sector. Once people understand that, they understand the Bluff market.”
Quaid is on the verge of listing a do-up property on Bann Street and said she expected her phone to run hot with potential renovators from Auckland.
“They’re looking to renovate and flip, and they see that they can make a profit out of areas like Bluff. They come down and do like a month or three weeks of 24/7 stuff. Or they employ a team of locals.”
A two-bedroom cottage at 13 Richmond Street, in Ohai, is on the market for $190,000. Photo / Supplied
Bluff is known for its fishing industry and dramatic coastline. Photo / Getty Images
One recent example was a home bought for $69,000, renovated and sold for $280,000. “There’s a lot of work because most of those old cottages are sitting on the ground, so they’ve got to be re-piled, rewired, replumbed.”
One of the cheapest homes to sell in recent times in Bluff was an abandoned home on Lagan Street, which sold for $100,000 in August last year after just seven days on the market. “It was a cash unconditional offer,” Property Brokers agent Hayley Aitken told OneRoof.
“I thought it would be a bowl-over. It was an abandoned property. The owners left and relocated up north and never came back. I’m pretty sure it was abandoned for over 12 years.
“But someone reached out wanting to save the property and renovate it, which they have done already and made it liveable, which is nice. She was a local Bluff resident. They’ve done heaps of work. They have sent me some photos [of the renovated home].”
Aitken said it was not possible to do viewings of the 1905 home because of health and safety concerns. She received multiple enquiries. “This lady and her brother thought about it for a couple of hours [after visiting the property] and then offered straight away.”
They had previously renovated another house in Bluff, which was said to be in worse condition, Aitken said.
Bluff has plenty of work, said Quaid, thanks to the fishing industry and the port. It’s also only a 20-minute drive from Invercargill. Another bonus is the multiple outlets selling oysters and other local catch.
Not all sub-$200,000 homes in Southland are in need of major renovation. Along State Highway 99 north-west of Bluff is a range of sub-$200,000 homes, including a stylish one in Ohai.
Tall Poppy agent Tawhiti McPherson listed the home at 13 Richmond Street in December, and it was snapped up quickly. Or so the owners thought. The sale fell through in February due to finance issues, and it’s back on the market, McPherson told OneRoof.
“It is quite a neat little space, and it has a little bit of personality as well, which is quite cool. The vendors have put a lot of love and blood, sweat and tears into it. So, it does present quite nicely.
“They are very artistic people, and it’s very well staged, but that’s just how they live their lives.”
The owners are now moving on. They bought the property sight unseen originally and moved south to Ohai, he said.
McPherson said another Ohai property on the corner of Milton Street recently sold for $90,000 “as is, where is”. “That’s probably not very often you come across those ones, but I would say there are around anywhere from the $150,000 to $300,000 at the top end of it, maybe into the early threes for something that’s had all the work done on it.”
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