Coromandel property sales buck national trend
Buoyant real estate sales in the Coromandel in May bucked a national trend which has seen the volume of property sales falling throughout New Zealand.
Bayleys sold five properties that went up for mortgagee auction in Whititianga this month – a feat which sales agent Bev Calder says rarely happened even at the peak of the property market throughout 2006 and 2007.
The five properties all sold one after the other in a single day’s auction. In addition five other homes sold between Bayleys’ Whitianga and Whangamata offices over a matter of weeks.
“Ten sales in a four week period is an incredibly strong result considering the state of the market - and it compared favourably to our sales at this time last year. It shows the buyers are again seeing value in our market, despite comments by the likes of Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard,” Bev says.
Four of the Whitianga properties sold at the Bayleys’ auction were apartments on the Esplanade. They sold for between $180,000 to $455,000, with three bought by one local resident, and the top-priced penthouse purchased by an out-of-town investor.
Bev also sold a large 878 sq metre site with several outbuildings on Moewai Park Road for $201,000 after five bidders fought it out with 40 bids - a record for the Whitianga office this year.
Other properties sold in the four week period included a three-bedroom architecturally designed home with a large jetty on the Whitianga Waterways which topped the million dollar mark. Bev had working with the buyer for nearly a year.
She also sold a 50 hectare bush block on 309 Road that went for $400,000.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures show the median home price in the Coromandel/Thames district settled to around $450,000 in April – well ahead of April 2007’s median price of $380,000.
“While there is doom and gloom talk in the media about property volumes and prices nationally, our May and June sales show that there are plenty of buyers in the market keen to pick up sharply priced properties… I suppose you could say ‘bargains,” Bev says.
Issued by Bayleys Real Estate. For more information contact Bev Calder, Bayleys Whitianga, 07-866-0098 or 027-279-4401.
