Te Awa property prices have skyrocketed in recent years. Photo File
Te Awa property prices have skyrocketed in recent years. Photo File
The Napier suburb of Te Awa remains the region's rising property darling as it hits a median house price of half a million dollars.
According to the latest report from OneRoof, property prices in the Napier suburb have skyrocketed in recent years having risen considerably in the past three years with the average house value now sitting at $500,000, an 18 per cent increase on June 2018.
This sits just above the Napier median price of $495,000, which has also increased by 10 per cent since June last year.
Tremains Hawke's Bay sales manager Stuart Christensen says that first-home buyers will struggle to find anything priced much below $500,000 even in the older part of the suburb.
"You've got issues of supply and demand and property is snapped up quickly, often with competing offers," Christensen said.
Te Awa is very much seen as a suburb of two halves, with still existing pre-quake dwellings, including small railway workers' houses from the 1920s, plus Art Deco style homes built after the quake from the 1960s and 70s era.
Te Awa's average house value now sits at $500,000, an 18 per cent increase on June 2018. Photo / Paul Taylor
While on the other side is Te Awa Fields, a new subdivision of 67 homes, in front of Maraenui Golf Club.
This is the newest of the subdivisions in the area, which began around 12 years ago planned to add hundreds of high-quality homes to the suburb through its Te Awa Estate plan which is offering 428 home sites with much of the development completed and now offering good quality housing.
Christensen says sections in Te Awa Fields start at around the high $200,000s mark, while larger ones will be in the low $300,000s range.
"When they're finished we'll be looking at $700,000 houses," Christensen said.
But along with this the area is attracting all kinds of age groups and offers good value for money, especially those moving down from Auckland, according to Christensen.
"Te Awa provides options for home buyers that were not there before.
"It gives the opportunity to build new close to the CBD, highway to Hastings, golf course, and also the beach, which attracts all ages to the cycleways," Christensen said.
"With interest rates low and the buying demand still strong, there's definitely still opportunity for the market to grow."
But Te Awa isn't the only fast-growing suburb in Napier with both Bay View and Maraenui both seeing 13 per cent increases in their median house prices over the last year.
Stuart Christensen says that Te Awa provides options for home buyers that were not there before. Photo / Supplied
Hawkes Bay overall still continues to experience strong value growth, having increased around 70 per cent over the past five years.
Its annual growth also remains very strong currently sitting at 21.4 per cent with a median value of $340,000.
But one of the main drivers for house sales in Hawke's Bay with 83.9 per cent of residential property valued below $500,000.
Harcourts general manager for Hastings James Cooper says Hawke's Bay offers a lot of great factors which have helped support the growing property market.
"Some of the key pull factors driving demand for Hawke's Bay buyers include a strong local economy with low unemployment and a superb lifestyle," Cooper said.
"This has seen increased interest from people looking either to return home to raise a family or buyers looking to move from Auckland in their retirement."
