Bindi Norwell , CEO Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Bindi Norwell , CEO Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
The number of $1 million-plus properties being sold in Hawke's Bay has spiked, bucking a nationwide trend.
The number of properties being sold in Hawke's Bay has increased by 47.4 per cent from 38 sales in the first half of 2018 to 56 sales in the first half of 2019.
Reinz chief executive Bindi Norwell said the increase was not surprising.
"It's a really strong result for Hawke's Bay and not surprising.
"Hawke's Bay has been increasing in value for quite some time now.
"It's a popular place to live, it's more affordable compared to some other regions, it has amazing lifestyle options, and it has good infrastructure.
"There's so much demand for properties, and there's not enough supply, and with lots of pressure on house prices there's an increase in $1m properties."
Hawke's Bay was also an attractive region for buyers because you get more bang for your buck here, she said.
"The median price here is $479,000, making it so much more affordable. There's also been an increase in tourism and Hawke's Bay has a pretty robust economy.
"There's also been a record decrease in interest rate, a decrease in unemployment, and there's infrastructure developments in the region as well, resulting in an increase in employment opportunities."
Tremains general manager Stuart Christensen said that the increase was mainly caused by the increase in property values over the last few years.
"Properties that would have sold for around the $700,000-$800,000 mark are now going for over a million," Christensen said.
"The boost of people coming in from the bigger regions is also helping with them selling up and heading to Hawke's Bay for either the lifestyle or job options and those from the bigger regions selling up are finding they can get a lot for around that million dollar price."
Stuart Christensen said that the increase was mainly caused by the increase in property values over the last few years. Photo / Supplied
However, the number of $1m plus properties being sold across the country dropped by 11.2 per cent compared to the first half of 2018.
In the first half of 2019 approximately 628 fewer houses over the million-dollar-mark were sold when compared to the same time last year –decreasing from 5,591 to 4,963.
Auckland was at the forefront of this decline, with 722 fewer high-end houses being sold.
For Christensen the national decline is showing that although the bigger regions such as Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are seeing a drop the regions are feeling that boost.
"We're seeing plenty of people coming in from the bigger regions and from what they get from regions such as Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and even Christchurch they see they can get a lot out of a home in Hawke's Bay and are picking up those high market, higher value properties," Christensen said.
Norwell said there was an expectation that Auckland would perform "relatively well" in the million dollar report so it was "interesting to see a -17.3 per cent drop in sales of million dollar plus homes so far this year.
"However, when you look at the bigger picture, it aligns with the shift we've been seeing over the past few months as Aucklanders continue to search for more affordable properties and lifestyles in various regions and median prices in the region have stabilised.
"It's always promising to see an increase in sales across other parts of the country where real estate continues to go from strength-to-strength.
"With some renewed confidence entering the market including in Auckland in the last few months, it will be interesting to see what happens in the second half of the year."
