High demand helps sell Rotorua family home

John Briggs found it easy selling his family home in the current Rotorua market. Photo/George Novak

While closing the doors on their family home for the last time was hard, selling it in the current Rotorua market was a piece of cake.

Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post, John Briggs said his Sapphire Pl, Pukehangi, family home had a lot of drawcards, including a big section, but the sale was made easier by the steady demand in the Rotorua market.

The latest QV House Price Index for April, released yesterday, showed the average value of a home in Rotorua has jumped 27.8 per cent in the past 12 months, to $396,423.

Values have increased 4.4 per cent over the past three months and now sit 35 per cent above the 2007 market peak.

"We had a lot of interest from couples, it was an old-style house but you could easily put another house on the section, it will be interesting to see whether it gets knocked down to make way for three houses," Mr Briggs said.

It was on the market about a week and a half - it went so quick...

John Briggs

"But I think it would have sold quickly five years ago as well."

The property was a deceased estate so Mr Briggs said he was not faced with having to find another house to move to.

"We all had our own homes already so it made sense to sell. I live in the Mount and as much as Rotorua is a cool place to live, I have no plans to leave the beaches here.

"Having another house to move into was not something we had to worry about so I guess that made the selling process easier too."

He said the house was bought by his parents when he was a teenager so "while it was the family home, we weren't living there when we were kids".

"That said, it was pretty hard closing the doors for the last time."