With the market desperately short of bach listings, investors and holiday home buyers are eyeing former holiday parks and campgrounds in New Zealand favourite summer locations.
“Because of the tremendous lifestyle change this last year, people focus on how they live, but where do you go to buy now when there’s hardly anything left?” Ray White agent Ross Hawkins told OneRoof.
“You can’t buy in Omaha, Coromandel Peninsula is hard, and in coastal places like Matapouri you can’t develop anymore.”
Over the summer break Hawkins sold three homes in Russell Cottages complex in Russell, in the Bay of Islands and listed the Blue Heron holiday park on Whangarei Harbour. He said that holiday home buyers were looking for “stock for the future”.
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“I was selling sections in Omaha in 1999 and 2000, and they were cheap as chips. Now look at them. There’s a bright future to get into new places,” he said.
Hawkins says that the Russell cottages were a cheap way to get into a coastal spot, with the six remaining cabins are priced from $695,000.
The affordable price tag of Russell Cottages has generated keen buyer interest. Photo / Supplied
He said the holiday park in Whangarei was another example of campgrounds in prime locations being sold as much for their development potential as their business potential.
The Blue Heron is on 8170sqm right on the water, in a rural and residential area on the edge of Whangarei that is now zoned for development.
“You can swim off the beach and catch scallops. But it has been re-zoned for development down to 500sqm lots.
“An investor can buy this as a going concern, but as time goes on the sites will be worth more. There’ll be a top-side to develop then.”
Hawkins picked the edges of Whangarei as the next growth area, both south of the city around Marsden Cove and north, helped by a booming boat-building industry, the growing port and improved access once the State Highway One works were complete.
Campground land in rezoned areas is valued by land-bankers as it provides good holding income. Photo / Supplied
Also in Northland, NAI Harcourts agent James Vincent is marketing the Paihia Top 10 Holiday Park, in Paihia. He said that the park would suits investors looking for a passive return on the 1.74ha site.
“These campgrounds were a tough sell before Covid, but the domestic market has filled the gap. There’s an increase in the camper van market and they don’t focus on the cheap end of the market,” he said.
Vincent told OneRoof business had grossed about $1 million annually with “plenty of net profit”.
“It’s a classic. The owners used lockdown to spend capital to help lengthen the season into the shoulder, with a fully heated swimming pool. It was a brave thing to do in the downturn, but it paid off.”
Investment during the downturn has paid off for Pahia Top 10 Holiday Park as domestic tourism boomed this summer. Photo / Supplied
One special accommodation business – the legendary Raglan Backpackers on the waterfront – is being marketed as lifestyle job. The land, building, accommodation and rental business are on land leased in perpetuity from the Waikato District Council, so cannot be land banked for subdivision.
"That means the lease never ends," said Ray White agent Julie Hanna, who is marketing the property.
Agents point out that magic waterfront locations are a rarity in the market. Photo / Supplied
“A lot of people are coming to live here. They can travel to Hamilton or Auckland for their jobs, or buy themselves a job here and have a good income as well. There are so many choices as to how you can use it.”
Owner Suz Hall bought the business in 2005 after running another backpackers. Partner Tim Duff founded the surf school 25 years ago so the pair added a thriving kayak and surfboard rental business aimed at both backpackers and day trippers from the cities.
“We are super-lucky because the main lodge building was purpose built in 1995, it’s wrapped around a courtyard so all the rooms get air and light and it’s sheltered even if there’s a roaring southerly,” Hall said.
The iconic Raglan Backpackers is on land leased in perpetuity from the council. Photo / Supplied
“We don’t use the main house, so we rent that out to yoga or cycling groups or corporates, and in the peak season we just rent individual rooms,” Hall said.
“The domestic tourism boom has worked for us. We’ve got people who can’t go to Bali or the Pacific Islands for their surfing, so they come to Raglan.”
Hanna said she was fielding enquiries all over New Zealand, as well as ex-pats looking to buy a business and lifestyle when they return from overseas.
“Raglan real estate is huge, you can’t buy much because listings are so short.”
The business includes purpose-built accommodation and an owners house that is also rented out to groups. Photo / Supplied
