Featherston PHOTO/FILE
Three towns make national top 10 for growth
It’s official, South Wairapapa is a hot property market nationally, containing three of New Zealand’s top 10 growth areas in the past year.
Featherston was second in the country, with 22.1 per cent growth to $339,900 from $278,378 a year ago.
Humble Kawerau, sitting close to thermal springs and the tourist delights of Rotorua and Bay of Plenty, was the best-performing property market, with home values in the town of 6800 people jumping more than 25 per cent during the past year, to a median price of $230,500, according to CoreLogic who provide data to Quotable Value.
Home values in Martinborough grew 19.5 per cent from $498,703 to $595,950, and in Greytown by 18.6 per cent from $441,821 to $524,000, putting them both in the top 10.
South Wairarapa District Council Mayor Viv Napier said the council was putting a lot of thought into dealing with what was likely to be a long-term trend.
She said the inflow of families had been great for schools, with some rolls now at levels not seen since the 1970s.
She said the council was working on long-term issues, such as whether to allow smaller sections or more developments on the outskirts of towns, and how to best provide infrastructure.
“We are putting aside quite a lot of money to do a spatial plan,” she said, which will help plan where further growth should occur.
Benn Milne from Property Brokers said he had just sold a 1000sq m section in Greytown for about $333,000. That’s without a house.
“I have had developers from Auckland contact me directly wanting projects in South Wairarapa,” he said.
He said the Featherston market was continuing to be particularly strong, and 95 per cent of the buyers were Wellington buyers, he said.
His company was receiving inquiries about a subdivision in Featherston which had not yet been launched, and was looking at turning it into house and land packages, rather than just land.
Agents who had been in the game along time said it was the busiest it had ever been, Milne said.
People had thought the market would plateau during winter but it hadn’t, he said.
“I personally had a record month in June, which is just crazy for a June,” he said.
Napier said families could still get a good home in Featherston for under $500,000 and that was attractive to people from Wellington. She said some people drove over the hill and caught the train from Upper Hutt to have more flexibility.
Together Porirua and Wairarapa were home to six of the 10 best performing markets in the CoreLogic data.
In Porirua, prices in Ranui, grew 18.6 per cent to $403,050, prices in Waitangirua grew 20.6 per cent to $331,500 and Cannons Creek 19.9 per cent to $340,100.
Apart from Greytown and Martinborough, each of the towns in the top 10 had a median home value of about $400,000 or less.
Also, in Kawerau, Featherston, Greytown and Martinborough, 10 per cent of each town’s housing stock had changed hands over the past year.
— With NZME
TOP 10 SUBURBS home values
Kawerau +27.1%
Featherston +22.1%
Clifton [Invercargill] +20.6%
Waitangirua +20.6%
Otematata [Waitaki Valley] +20.4%
Cannons Creek +19.9%
Greytown +19.5%
Putaruru [Waikato] +19.3%
Ranui +18.6%
Martinborough +18.6%
