The monthly housing report recently released by the official website of the NZ real estate industry details – among other things, the latest average asking price and new listing figures for the Masterton, Carterton, and South Wairarapa districts.
As illustrated in our graphic, the realestate.co.nz report shows that average asking prices – which are considered a reliable indicator of property selling prices – rose more than eight per cent in the South Wairarapa in January compared to December 2023.
Average asking prices in South Wairarapa are also over $400,000 more in South Wairarapa than they are in Carterton or Masterton.
Harcourts Masterton managing director Prue Hamill said asking price increases are driven by migration from Wellington.
“I think the higher prices seen in Wairarapa are from out-of-town buyers,” she said.
“The area is just that much closer to Wellington and, also, some people will be buying holiday houses here.
“The market here tends to follow on from Wellington.”
Meanwhile, Bayleys real estate agent Danni Carrig noted that one of the contributing factors to the higher average asking price in South Wairarapa is the type of properties selling in the district.
“South Wairarapa covers a large area, and there are a lot of lifestyle blocks compared to the smaller residential dwellings,” she said.
“I remember last year seeing more residential sales, whereas last month there were a lot more lifestyle sales.”
Carrig also mentioned that migration from Wellington was a contributing factor, saying that people who would typically spend one hour a day sitting in traffic in Wellington are just as happy to move here and spend the same amount of time commuting on the train.
While South Wairarapa saw a jump in average asking prices last month, Masterton only saw a slight rise of less than one per cent, while in Carterton it fell by over six per cent.
New property listings in January in the three Wairarapa districts were also revealed in the report, with both Carrig and Hamill saying they show a healthy increase in supply.
Hamill said that she often finds people wait until after Christmas, when people are back at work, before listing their properties on the market, while Carrig said that January tends to be a busy period for Bayleys compared to other months.
Not surprisingly, both real estate agents were keen to emphasise that the region was a good place to buy, and now is the right time.
