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PAM GRAHAM
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The Wairarapa property market remains strong but there is more talk of stability rather than craziness.
It’s a tough call though, because a two-bedroom 80m2 house in Martinborough sold for $550,000, according to one agent, and a million-dollar sale in Greytown is in the works, according to another.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures for October published on Wednesday showed prices in South Wairarapa had risen 5.9 per cent from a year ago while in Carterton they had risen 31.8 per cent. That was based on 17 sales in Carterton in both October last year and this year.
In Masterton, prices rose 7.7 per cent in October from a year ago. Forty-nine houses sold, down from 54 in October 2017.
“The market is still healthy but we are more inclined to be coming into a stable market rather than a rising market,” said Prue Hamill, the managing director of Harcourts in the region.
There has been an influx of new listings for spring and interest rates are still low, but non-residents are now more restricted than they were and after a rising market for so long, vendors’ expectations have risen.
So, there’s a lot going on in the property market and it has to be weighed up.
Brent Woodmass, the area manager for Property Brokers in Wairarapa, said there was some evidence people were moving up SH2 to Carterton where they got more for their money.
Hamill said about six properties a month sold in Greytown traditionally, but it had been almost double that for some time.
“Greytown is our highest priced area,” she said. “It’s not unusual to be selling properties in excess of a million dollars there.
“I don’t think it’s gone off the boil there, but the agents are saying perhaps there isn’t as much traffic going through homes.”
Woodmass said all property in Wairarapa remained attractive to Wellington buyers.
The average selling price in Wellington City in October was $680,000, which buys a good property in Wairarapa.
There were 308 properties sold in Wellington City in October, up sharply from 282 in the same month last year.
The median price in October in Wairarapa was down from September but brokers said September had been a particularly strong month.
The median price in October compared with September in Masterton was down 10.3 per cent; it was down 20.2 per cent in Carterton District; and down 9.4 per cent in South Wairarapa District.
“I think we punched well above our weight the previous month,” Woodmass said.
“As a whole, the market is still buoyant. There are still plenty of buyers out there and plenty of activity,” he said.
Hamill said there was nothing alarming going on.
“Real estate is going well. We are attracting some very good people into the region but maybe not in the numbers we were getting,” she said.
Sales of sections were going well, she said.
