Flaxmere property prices now the fastest growing in Hawke's Bay

Flaxmere is being seen as the fastest growing suburbs and it continues to grow with new housing developments already well under way. Photo / Paul Taylor

New data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reveals that Flaxmere has claimed the title as the Hawke's Bay region's fastest-growing suburb when looking at median house prices.

For the 12 months ending October 2019, median house prices in Flaxmere increased by 27.8 per cent from $224,500 to $286,800 when compared with the same time last year.

However, the number of properties sold in the suburb fell by 10.1 per cent for the same period.

Not far behind were Waipukurau and Waipawa with median price increases of 26.8 per cent (from $280,000 to $355,000) and 26.7 per cent (from $300,000 to $380,000) respectively.

Both suburbs also saw a decline in the number of properties sold with drops of 16.4 per cent and 7.0 per cent respectively.

Chief Executive at REINZ Bindi Norwell said that the Hawke's Bay is seen as one of the country's fastest growing regions.

"Over the past 12-18 months the Hawke's Bay region has certainly seen some of the largest house price increases with double-digit price growth and record median prices more often the case," she said.

"October was a stand-out month with the region seeing a record median price of $535,000 and three districts also achieving record median prices – Hastings District ($550,000), Napier City ($555,000) and Wairoa District ($271,000) which hasn't seen a record median price since February 2018."

Top 10 Fastest growing suburbs in the Hawke's Bay region.

With Flaxmere Norwell says that the suburb is looking like it is going to continue its upward trend over the coming months.

"As one of Hastings more affordable suburbs it's no surprise that Flaxmere has increased so rapidly in price over the past 12 months, however, what will be interesting is to see how the suburb continues to fare over the coming months," Norwell said.

"Of late the area has a renewed sense of vibrancy which we would expect to play out in terms of a continued uplift in prices over time."

She did say that although the prices are going up, the number of listings are going down.

"Part of what's been impacting house prices in the area is the lack of properties available for sale.

"Both new listings and total inventory across the Hawke's Bay region are down when compared to the same time last year and that lack of supply is causing prices to rise," she said.

"Naturally with the publicity around the region's price increases over the last few months vendor pricing expectations have risen alongside house prices, so we are seeing some occasions where some realignment of expectations is needed."

But the region is still seeing overall growth across the board, particularly in CHB.

"Both Waipukurau and Waipawa are beautiful parts of the Central Hawke's Bay District and have great amenities, are close to the river and a short drive from the popular farmers market at Otane so it's little surprise that we've seen such strong growth in prices rises there," Norwell said.

"Looking forward over the summer months, we expect to see much of the same unless we see some much needed inventory come on to the market."