Realtor identified house type that sees the most activity
Hamilton’s residential property market was full of activity in October despite the recent COVID-19 lockdowns in New Zealand, according to realestate.co.nz.
Last month, the property website noted a significant increase in residential property listings in Hamilton to over 614. However, it noted that empty sections remained hard to come by for buyers.
Focusing on the empty sections, Lodge Real Estate managing director Jeremy O’Rourke said you can count on one hand the number of these sections that are available in the city, with the scarcity hitting the northern area.
“While there are plenty of house and land packages available in Hamilton, it’s difficult to secure a section where a buyer can build their own dream home,” O’Rourke said.
“Last week, we released 1876A River Road to market, a seven-section property that will be sub-divided in sought-after Flagstaff. Within hours, we had 110 people register their interest for the upcoming auctions. These sections are prime, flat land ranging from 450sqm to 503sqm – there’s nothing like them in the city at the moment.”
O’Rourke explained that the instant and high demand proved that people are looking for a piece of land in the right location, where they can build their preferred specifications.
Read more: Economist reveals impact of challenging market on mortgage and property activity
O’Rourke also revealed that properties with prices exceeding $1 million continue to see the most activity. However, the general increase in spring listings meant the realtor’s midweek auctions are full for the rest of November, with a second day per week being scheduled.
“$1.5 million in the north-east of Hamilton doesn’t buy the same calibre of property it would have a year ago, and properties in the seven-figure range are seeing up to 10 bidders registered ahead of going to auction,” he said.
“While that end of the market has continued its hot streak, properties under $850,000 have cooled off with first-home buyers becoming less active at auction and investors looking for new builds.”
O’Rourke pointed to rising interest rates and barriers to bank funding as drivers of these changes, with property market forecasts on the former “spooking” first-home buyers.
In addition to Lodge Real Estate, economist Tony Alexander also recently outlined changes in the residential property market across the country following the recent COVID-19 lockdowns.
In his survey, Alexander found a solid market, but slowing at the top. He also noted more buyers than sellers, little or no price resistance, slightly increased supply, and high prices.
Buyer activity, especially that of first-home buyers, has also changed. Early this month, a joint survey by Alexander and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) found that a net 27% of real estate agents who answered saw more people seeking appraisals of their property’s market value, well above the average since April 2020 of only 9%.
Now, buyer activity has slowed down. And, like commercial properties, property investments face a lack of supply of materials, lockdown restrictions, and lending restrictions.
“Development projects [were] on hold due to an uncertain supply chain, delays with contractors, resource consent, and building inspection [was] expensive and time-consuming,” the respondents said.
