- A first-time buyer purchased a unique home in Runanga for $365,000.
- The three-bedroom house features a turret and dome, built by late owner Jack Ewen.
- Runanga’s average property value is $325,000, making it one of the country’s cheapest towns.
A first-time buyer has snapped up an unusual-looking home for $365,000 in one of New Zealand’s cheapest towns.
Start your property search
The three-bedroom property on Pitt Street, in Runanga, was the pride and joy of its late owner, coal miner and amateur historian Jack Ewen, and came with a turret and a dome.
Listing agent Levi Maskill, from Property Brokers, told OneRoof the buyer was a returning local. “She’s originally from here and has been looking to get on the ladder for quite some time,” he said.
The Pitt Street home also boasts a turret, which was added in the 1990s after a big TAB win. Photo / Supplied
The view from inside the turret. The late owner wanted a place that caught the sun. Photo / Supplied
For her $365,000, she got a well-maintained standalone house on a quarter-acre section. “Most properties in the area sell for below that price, but they’re mostly weatherboard, bungalow-type houses,” Maskill said, adding that the property had been on the market since August last year.
He said first-home buyers were responding to recent drops in mortgage rates. “They’ve definitely stuck their heads out, they have a bit more confidence.”
Maskill said he was seeing people he went to school with turn up at open homes. “It’s a West Coast thing. Most Coasters do the full circuit, especially in my demographic, which is 20s and 30s. They tend to go overseas, work over there for a bit, and then come back.
Discover more:
- Winston Peters' former home sells to expats on holiday visit to NZ
- Former fertility boss selling her coastal retreat after heading overseas
- Bach's first sale in 60 years - buyer's $2m-plus offer blows away CV
“A mate of mine has just bought some land, so he’s got something to come back to after he’s done his dash overseas.”
He added: “Most of my mates have gone away and worked in the mines in Australia. Diesel mechanics, builders, electricians. There’s definitely a lot of work for trades here.”
OneRoof interviewed Jack Ewen’s son, Peter, when the property hit the market last year. He said dome homes were popular in New Zealand in the 1970s and his father, who died aged 92 in 2023, had commissioned a local builder, Tom McLean, to build his.
“Tom had built some down in Hokitika, but they weren’t as good as Jack’s. Jack’s was the best one I’ve seen.”
Buyers were charmed by the Pitt Street home’s curved walls - and loved how well insulated it was. Photo / Supplied
Peter told OneRoof he had asked his father why he chose to live in an igloo. “I think he might have been a bit forward-thinking, with climate change. The dome was like a chilly bin in reverse. It’s very, very warm. You don’t have to have the heat pump on very long,” he said.
“It was polystyrene, with rebar over the top and netting, and then they splash it with the plaster to get the roughcast.”
Peter was at boarding school when the igloo was built but managed to help with the decoration work. “I have done a lot of the decorating inside from the get-go and painting outside,” he said.
His father added a turret to the house following a big win at the TAB in the early 1990s. “He had [the extension] at the front architecturally designed in 94. He wanted more room and to catch the sun,” Peter said.
The latest OneRoof house price figures show Runanga is one of New Zealand’s cheapest real estate locations. The town’s average property value is $325,000 – less than a tenth of what it costs to buy a home in the country’s most expensive suburb, Herne Bay.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Runanga
