- Clyde is gaining attention for its affordable housing and historic charm, compared to Arrowtown.
- The town offers properties under $1m, significantly cheaper than Wānaka and Queenstown.
- Tourism from the Otago Central Rail Trail is boosting interest and population growth in Clyde.
It’s tipped to be the next Arrowtown, but houses there cost a fraction of the price, and car parks are plentiful.
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Clyde, a tiny rural town with around 1200 residents, is on the tourist map thanks to the Otago Central Rail Trail, but it is still largely unknown to buyers in the region.
Tall Poppy agent Peter Hishon said Clyde was often referred to as the “second Arrowtown”, but in his view, it was much better.
A classic two-bedroom bach on Shields Street, in Clyde is inviting offers over $550,000. Photo / Supplied
The property was built in 1965 and is being sold "as is, where is". Photo / Supplied
“It’s got that historic goldmining background, but it doesn’t have the hustle and bustle of Arrowtown with tourism. You can still get a park in Clyde.”
A lot of tourists didn’t even know it existed, he said.
“If you are on a week’s holiday, you go to Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell, maybe down to Te Anau and onto Milford Sound – but that’s it. People don’t tend to come over here.”
Those who have made the effort often return the following year to buy a house, he said.
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In the last 10 years, he had noticed a lift in people from the North Island and Canterbury joining the Southlanders moving there.
“Some of them are buying holiday homes and coming here to live later, but some of them just move.”
They love Clyde’s lifestyle, the historic buildings, the lake and the weather (it had the lowest rainfall in the country).
Hishon said buyers often lumped Central Otago and Queenstown-Lakes together and viewed them as too expensive. And while house prices in Queenstown-Lakes were out of reach for many buyers, Central Otago’s housing market was still affordable.
A modern three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Gye Street would be the perfect retirement home. Photo / Supplied
According to the latest OneRoof house price figures, the average property value in Clyde was still under $1m, well below the average property value of $2.9m in Arrowtown and $2.1m in Wānaka.
“Clyde used to be a holiday village. There were baches everywhere, a few permanents. Once upon a time, it was a whole lot of orchards and just a little tin pot town, you could have bought baches there seven-eight years ago for $250,000 or $300,000.”
Now there was a mix of holiday makers and permanent residents. Baches could still be picked from $500,000s, such as the property at 97 Shields Street asking for offers over $550,000, first homes were around $700,000-$750,000 and new homes went for around $800,000, while $1.6m would buy one of the nicest houses in the town.
Retirees looking to move to the area would love the modern three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 11 Gye Street, which is inviting offers over $1.25m, while a 1915 plaster-over-brick bungalow at 71 Sunderland Street is being pitched at renovators, developers and landbankers.
An artist’s impression of seven units on Sunderland Street, in Clyde, which will hit the market next month, priced from $595,000. Photo / Supplied
Aspire Realty agent George Wallis, who loves picking out small towns with potential, told OneRoof it was only time before the rest of New Zealand discovered Clyde.
Cromwell’s population has grown by more than 70% to 7470 in just over a decade, and he expected Clyde’s population would also explode at some point.
“All that cycle tourism has firstly given people a reason to go there, and when you get there, you go, ‘Wow’. It’s got this quaint historic high street with all these old buildings, epic cafes and restaurants.”
The multitude of wineries was also a drawcard, he said.
“Then you’ve got all the vineyard space around Earnscleugh – so it’s kind of this wee town that’s got so much going for it and it feels like it’s only just coming into the light, so to speak.”
Wallis agreed the area was still very affordable compared to Cromwell, Wānaka and Queenstown.
He’s about to launch the marketing campaign for a group of units on Sunderland Street next month, and the first release will be priced at $595,000. The complex, which includes seven one and two-bedroom units and a standalone three-bedroom house, would suit both retirees and holiday makers looking for a “bolthole” in Central Otago, he said.
- Click here to find properties for sale in Clyde
