Buyers’ market with smorgasbord of houses up for grabs in Wairoa

Kimberley Bell stands behind the sold sign at the Achilles Road property. Wairoa Star pictures

More houses have come on the market than ever this past summer, says a Wairoa real estate agent.

General interest and engagements per listing for the Hawke’s Bay region alone are up nearly 26 percent, while for the rest of New Zealand, it was up by 10 percent.

Local real estate agent Kimberley Bell of PGG Wrightson said: “This February, nationally, there was more property on the market than there has been for any February in the past 10 years”.

Despite these promising figures, many investors — both local and overseas — are still wary about putting capital into real estate.

Property Brokers’ Vern Withey said, “Investors are still very slow; they haven’t come to the surface yet. I don’t know if that’s just to do with the banks, but the flooding hasn’t helped either.”

Finding the capital to protect an investment is tricky, too.

“Nobody can get insurance for love or money, which is (also) holding back the market”.

However, he said things were still looking promising for first-home buyers, with a smorgasbord of houses up for grabs — which was not limited to Hawke’s Bay alone.

“It’s getting to be a buyers’ market. What’s more, it’s the same throughout New Zealand. There’s more going on in the market, which gives people more choices.

“The urgency isn’t there at the moment.”

According to the QV House Price Index, property values are slightly higher on average for the first time since August of 2022, although the rate of home value growth has been flat for the first quarter of this year.

It suggests a new shift in house pricing could be emerging.

QV operations manager James Wilson said, “This trend is expected to continue over the next few months.

“Strong value declines are unlikely, even as we start moving into autumn and then eventually winter when sales volumes are likely to reduce even further.

“But with such strong economic headwinds in place, we’re also unable to pinpoint anything that would spark a return to strong value growth over the next three to six months.”