Rotorua house sales skyrocket

Rotorua from the air. Photo/file

The number of houses sold in Rotorua last month skyrocketed by 120 per cent, with 183 houses sold compared with 83 in April last year.

New figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand yesterday also showed an increase in the number of houses sold compared with March this year, with that number up 4.6 per cent.

As well as the big jump in house sales, the median price has increased to $275,100 - a 1.9 per cent increase on March and a 2.3 per cent increase on April 2015.

The time is for sales people to be brave and for vendors to be unafraid of a buyer running away.

Steve Lovegrove

Ross Stanway, chief executive of Realty Services, which operates Bayleys and Eves, said the figures were significant and good news for Rotorua.

"Rotorua is benefiting from a lot of increased interest from outside the area, and within with people upsizing and downsizing."

Mr Stanway said the price increase was still conservative and a lot of people were seeing really good value in Rotorua.

"The fact 100 more properties sold in April with less than a 3per cent price increase is a pretty positive and attractive story for anyone looking to buy a home in Rotorua."

Harcourts Rotorua sales consultant Hielke Oppers described the market as a "really fast market".

"There is a clear shortage of properties."

He said people were keeping a close eye on listings and they were getting enquiries the first day houses went on the market.

"It's definitely a sellers' market, which is good, but has consequences if you want to buy again," Mr Oppers said.

A big thing for buyers, he said, was understanding how to put an offer together and making it as attractive as possible, while still protecting themselves.

He said while price was one factor sellers looked at, other factors such as settlement conditions could also make certain offers more favourable.

It's definitely a sellers' market, which is good, but has consequences if you want to buy again.

Hiekle Oppers

Professionals McDowell Real Estate Rotorua owner Steve Lovegrove said he expected sales volumes to remain high over the next few months.

"I think we will see over 200 sales per month in the near future," he said. "I still think Rotorua has got some catching up to do on price."

He said a big difficulty was getting listings, and it was becoming competitive among real estate companies with some offering incentives to encourage sellers to list with them.

Mr Lovegrove said it was important to focus on making sure the right price was achieved and that agents were negotiating properly.

"The time is for sales people to be brave and for vendors to be unafraid of a buyer running away.

"They should stand confident and stand strong."

He said his agency was finding auction a good way to sell in the current market.

First National principal and Rotorua Reinz spokeswoman Ann Crossley said the figures were more of the same good news that Rotorua had been seeing over recent months.

She said they were seeing lots of multi-offer situations with about 75 per cent of homes sold that way.

Rotorua residential house sales
* 183 houses sold in April 2016
* 100 more than the previous April
* Median sales price for April 2016: $275,100
* Median sales price a 2.3 per cent increase on April 2015