Hawke's Bay home building inquiries from Americans shoot up following US elections

House owner Bruce Dornbusch (left) and builder Matt Symonds at the Esk hills subdivision. Symonds is getting more interest from Americans following the election. Photo / Warren Buckland

Napier builder Matt Symonds says the election of Donald Trump as United States President has had a local spin-off with a significant increase in queries from Americans keen to live and build in Hawke's Bay.

His company Building Logic was named a national top 100 finalist and regional gold award winner at this year's Master Builder House of the Year Awards, and Mr Symonds said the accolade had helped generate the international interest.

"It's been a really interesting couple of months.

"While we occasionally will get contacted by Australian buyers, since the election there has been a definite increase in American interest in the region."

To date the enquiries had not reached the point of detailing or concepts, but he did have one potential buyer coming back to him after Christmas.

It was a high-end market he said he was keen to tap into, especially on the back of his Master Builder award win.

"We took real pride in being selected for that prize, especially being the first year we had entered these awards.

"The property that won it is in Esk Hills and sums up a lot of what is so great about Hawke's Bay - a beautiful location, a high-quality build and really great craftsmanship from all the contractors we used.

"We've featured it prominently on our website and online advertising, and that type of vista must be very appealing for Americans looking at New Zealand as a place to move."

An up-and-coming builder, Mr Symonds said that although his company was currently attracting a lot of attention, he intended to continue to be hands-on with the building process.