Real estate agents in Whakatāne, in the Bay of Plenty, have been quietly setting records.
Powers Real Estate agent Liam Layland has just listed the cheapest house in his, albeit short, one-year career, while Professionals Whakatāne branch manager Stuart Lougher just sold his most expensive.
The agents both reported an uptick in buyer interest in the town, which is one of the most affordable in the region.
The slight price drop in the market means it is now just possible to buy a three-bedroom home for under $600,000 in the area and some canny buyers even have their eyes on properties in smaller, nearby towns that are even cheaper.
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Layland is just about to list the cheapest house in his short, one-year career.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom 1960s house at 39A Mackenzie Street, in Tāneatua, a 12-minute drive from Whakatāne, will be going on the market for less than $300,000.
Layland has already received a lot of enquiries from first-home buyers and people who have been priced out of the market. “There are few little towns where you can snap houses up for that type of money.”
Last week he sold two properties to first-home buyers – one for $485,000 and another for $720,000 – and has also noticed conditional buyers who missed out during the peak of the market are looking again.
The biggest struggle for first-home buyers, he said, was the First Home Grant being capped in Whakatāne at $500,000, which is lower than other parts of the Bay of Plenty.
“Trying to buy a house here for under $500,000 is extremely hard so most first-home buyers are having to pay between the $600,000 and $750,000 mark which makes it quite hard for them.”
A property in the lower end of the market with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a permanent sleepout on Eivers Road, Whakatāne, has an asking price of $629,000.
A two-bedroom home at 83 Eivers Road, in Whakatāne, with a sleepout is priced at $629,000. Photo / Supplied
A three-bedroom home at 18 Melville Drive, in Whakatāne, is seeking enquiries over $799,000. Photo / Supplied
While there are more properties in Whakatāne, homes in Ohope and Coastlands are priced at a premium because they are near the beach.
“It’s a unique sort of area so Coastlands is by the coast and seven minutes from town and Ohope is by the other side. But there are some streets around Whakatāne as well that do hold high prices and especially on the hill – that's another desirable place.”
A unique property on the hill at 18 Melville Drive, described as the worst house on the best street, has an asking price of $799,000.
However, it’s the properties priced over $800,000 that Layland is finding the hardest to sell – and which have dropped by about $100,000 in the last six months.
“The higher-end stuff is the hardest to sell at the moment unless it’s really sought after. The easiest things to sell right now are the things in the sort of range for first-home buyers I guess.”
A brand-new house at 32F Bunyan Road in Coastlands is being sold by the developer and is now priced by negotiation.
Due to being landlocked, Layland said the only new development is the relatively upmarket Shaw Road development, which is why he thinks there’s a lack of investors in the market.
Properties in the Shaw Road subdivision are usually priced between $900,000 and $1.1 million.
“When you look at Tauranga, there’s developments left, right and centre, but here that’s not really happening. We don’t have any big subdivisions on the go at all,” Layland said.
And while Layland might be about to sell his cheapest ever house, Professionals Whakatāne branch manager Stuart Lougher has just sold his most expensive.
A new-build home for sale at 32F Bunyan Road, in Coastlands, Whakatāne. Photo / Supplied
A four-bedroom art deco home at 37-39 Hillcrest Road, in Whakatāne, goes to auction on October 15. Photo / Supplied
A $1.6m lifestyle property on Mimiha Ridge Road, Matata, has just been sold to a European man with a Kiwi wife who has moved to New Zealand to take up a job in the town.
Lougher said people from overseas and out-of-towners are eyeing up properties in Whakatāne, Ohope and Coastlands.
Others had grown up in the town, moved away, and are now also looking to return.
And while there are not too many properties coming to market, Lougher said the number of houses for sale still outweighed the buyers.
“It’s a funny market. What I’m saying to people is instead of having three buyers for each house, we seem to have three houses for each buyer so people aren’t having to panic and they are not always competing against like they were six months ago ... and they had to play silly prices because of fear of missing out.”
Harcourts Whakatāne director Wayne Pamment said people are attracted to area because of the good job prospects coming from the Whakatāne Mill, the proposed marina and wharf development and the strong agricultural sector.
Pamment said properties in the $500,000 to $750,000 price range and around the $1m mark are starting to sell and as summer draws near more people are starting to think about buying properties in the popular beach areas such as Ohope and Coastlands.
“As we get a little bit warmer everybody starts to think harder about places like Coastlands and Ohope Beach – very much like what the Coromandel does and we are still seeing from what I can gather reasonable interest around some of those beach locations.
“Normally we would see a much higher price across Ohope and Coastlands than what we would in town and Whakatāne itself.”
However, a property at 37-39 Hillcrest Rd, described as an “exquisite art deco home”, could buck the trend when it goes to auction on October 15.
The property has two separate freehold titles and sits on a large 1950sqm section with views out to Whakaari (White Island) and Moutohora (Whale Island).
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