Property market minnows help boost Hawke's Bay prices past the half million dollar mark

Areas like Napier have bolstered the market in recent times but smaller regions are also making their move. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke's Bay's property market has hit another high with the region breaking through the $500,000 median house price mark.

In the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) property report for November it shows Hawke's Bay had a 14 per cent increase in its median house price from November 2018 to November 2019, of $470,000 to $535,800.

That made it the third highest increase in the country for November behind only Southland, which had 20.8 per cent increase, and Manawatu/Whanganui, with annual growth of 19.7 per cent.

REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said the country has had an impressive month with multiple regions showing record numbers, Hawke's Bay included.

"November was a very strong month price-wise, with record median prices seen in 10 regions (including Hawke's Bay) and a record equal in Manawatu/Wanganui," Norwell said.

"This is the highest number of regional records we've seen in a single month since March 2005."

The strong numbers have seen impressive responses in the Hawke's Bay region with record high median prices recorded for Central Hawke's Bay District ($404,000) and Napier City ($561,000).

Tremains Hawke's Bay sales manager Stuart Christensen said the growth in what are the smaller regions, such as Central Hawke's Bay, is seeing the big push in the regional price rises.

"Both Napier and Hastings have had their own regular strong growths but the increase in CHB seems to be mainly caused by those looking to buy seeing themselves being pushed out of those areas by the competing high prices," Christensen said.

"That has seen a few people making the move to the region because they can still get to work within 30 minutes and can find a much more affordable place to live."

Those cheaper properties are starting to gather a lot of attention and are helping the smaller regions expand, which in turn is pushing the regional median house prices up.

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said they have been seeing first home buyers really dominate the cheaper end of the market. Photo / File

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan says they have been seeing the same thing with a lot of the cheaper property market being heavily invested in by first home buyers.

"First home buyers are making up the bulk of the market but they are looking into the region's cheaper markets like Central Hawke's Bay and Wairoa, where we are seeing a lot of growth," Vaughan said.

"Wairoa is an area that we have seen as a real growth area due not only to the affordable housing but the development it is experiencing."

But with that growth in the region's prices, it is having an impact on house sales, with the number of houses sold down by 8.4 per cent from November 2018 to November 2019 - from 297 to 272.

"It all comes down to supply and demand market with it being a strong market for sellers but people are still a bit hesitant as they might be able to sell but are worried about what they can buy," Christensen said.

"That is something that we can expect over the coming months with the sales market seeing its ups and downs but the market remains strong - it's just a matter of if people are willing to get involved."