Bay Harbour: July 17, 2024

<strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News Wednesday <strong>July</strong> <strong>17</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 4 NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Worst house on best street drops in PROPERTY IN Akaroa and its nearby bays are becoming more affordable as sellers slash their prices. Some of the homes have been looking for new owners since the start of the year and the owners have now dropped the asking prices to around $750,000. The houses had failed to sell at auction earlier this year and had been on the market for between three and six months as buyers were wary of buying a holiday home due to high interest rates and tough economic conditions. There are currently more than 20 houses in Akaroa listed for sale on OneRoof, which is a stark change from two years ago when there were only nine properties for sale and buyers were clambering over each other to get into the market. <strong>Bay</strong>leys listing agent Philippa Linton said most of the owners were permanent residents and either moving to a retirement village or relocating, so had genuine reasons for selling. Philippa Linton “We are just trying to meet the market. They are all enthusiastic sellers, they all want to sell so they have agreed to drop their OPPORUNITY: A do-up at 19 Muter St, Akaroa, has dropped in price to $750,000. prices and some of them are selling well under the RV,” she told OneRoof. “All of these people are trying to move on. They are not desperate – I need to make that very clear – but they are ready to move so if somebody wants something amazing so this is the time when they will get something for a very good price.” The properties ranged from a do-up to move-in ready in and around Akaroa, which Linton said would have fetched between $800,000 and $900,000 at the peak of the market. Linton told OneRoof high-end properties were still in demand, but the mid-range properties were taking a bit longer to sell because they mainly attracted out-of-towners looking for a second home. “I think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens with the interest rates, now we know about (the) bright-line side of things. I think people have been tentatively holding their foot over the brake just waiting to see if they need to brake or accelerate.” An original four-bedroom, one-bathroom property at 19 Muter St offered a huge opportunity for people wanting to buy the “worst house on the best street”, she said. Not much had been done to it since the owner moved in 52 years go. “You spend $250,000 to $300,000 on (renovating) it and you are only just cracking the million-dollar mark where the houses on Muter are over $1m easy – $1.1m to $1.3m sort of thing.” The property had an RV of $930,000 and was on one of Akaroa’s most desirable streets, she said. The owner was selling the 1950s home to move to a retirement village. In the slightly more affordable Duvauchelle, the owners of a two-bedroom home at 18 Haywards Lane are also wanting to relocate, while a two-bedroom Lockwood home at 8 <strong>Bay</strong>view Cres, currently being used as a holiday home, is being marketed as a holiday home. Both have price indications of $749,000/$750,000-plus. The RVs are $570,00 and $810,000 respectively. Linton said recent sales in Duvauchelle usually fetched around the high $800,000s to the mid $900,000s. “With us going offers over $750,000, it’s really getting you into the market.” The fourth property to take a price drop is a modern architecturally inspired twobedroom home with water views at13 Seaview Lane, Wainui, which is inviting inquiries over $775,000. Its RV is $780,000. Apply for a subsidy for your Summer with your neighbours event! Sat 6 <strong>July</strong>–Sun 21 <strong>July</strong> ON NOW! Get your tickets! Happening 26 October <strong>2024</strong> – 31 March 2025 Applications open from 13 <strong>July</strong> until 11 August <strong>2024</strong> ccc.govt.nz/GetTogether

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz price as buyers wait Linton told OneRoof: “The difference is Wainui you drive there as a destination and it’s this beautiful quiet oceanside. “It’s a bit of a hike, but once you are there you are there. There’s no shops, but it’s a beautiful beach and good community.” Linton said Akaroa had benefited from remote workers moving there after Covid, which had pushed the average house price up to past $1m. But two years on, the main buyers tended to be people looking for holiday homes. OneRoof-Valocity figures show Akaroa’s average property value has grown 5.4 per cent year-on-year to $1.069 million, but much of that growth was in the second half Alan Nobbs of 2023 with values dipping 0.83 per cent in the last six months. Harcourts salesperson Alan Nobbs said the market was slow which was not uncommon at this time of year, but the cheaper properties had been most affected. “The buyers who have been paying the million-dollar-plus can afford it, whereas before our bottom of the market where HOLIDAY HOME: The two-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 8 <strong>Bay</strong>view Cres sits above the boatsheds in Duvauchelle. people used to try and get themselves into a bach or holiday investment type property and that market has dropped out a little bit so the competition hasn’t been as hard in the low-end of the market than the top.” A three-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage for sale at 47 Selwyn Ave, Akaroa, had also dropped its asking price from $750,000 to $715,000 since being listed in March, which was below its RV of $810,000. Nobbs said it was a “DIY dream” in one of Akaroa’s popular streets, but a lot of holiday homeowners didn’t want to spend their weekend renovating a property and wanted something already done. Those buyers who were around and had not headed overseas during winter were also trying their luck, he said, and a lot of offers were being made well under the property’s RV. “Offers are coming in low and hard,” he said. “Buyers are quite tough. They are going, ‘the media is telling us it’s a buyer’s market so we will just wait it out’. That lolly scramble has gone where they knew they had competition, now they are coming into auction properties and things and they are the only one.” Uncertainty over NZ Post services after iSite closure • By Dylan Smits NZ POST will not say if it is looking for a new site for retail services in Akaroa after the sudden closure of the iSite building in Beach Rd. Christchurch developer Darin Rainbird who owned the iSite, said he was forced to close the business down due to “financial difficulties”. The iSite functioned as a information and booking centre for tourists and contained Akaroa’s NZ Post retail services which have also shut down. All NZ Post would say when questioned by <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News was it is “currently working with interested parties to re-secure services in Akaroa’’. Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula Community Board’s Akaroa member Nigel Harrison has suggested retail postal services could return to the heritage post office building at 78 Rue Lavaud which is owned by the city council. “We see it as a service that is really, really important to get re-established somehow. We’re Wednesday <strong>July</strong> <strong>17</strong> <strong>2024</strong> <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News NEWS 5 CLOSED: The permanent closure of the Akaroa iSite building has left NZ Post’s retail services without a home. looking at different options,” Harrison said. The NZ Post spokesperson confirmed PO Box mail and parcel delivery is still being done in Akaroa after the iSite unexpectedly closed permanently last Wednesday. Rainbird said he “100 per cent” regrets any surprise impacts the closure has had on Akaroa residents and businesses. The manager and two part-time staff, who also ran the retail postal services, have lost their jobs. They were employed by Rainbird, so there is no impact to NZ Post staff. Licensed REAA 2008 DIGITAL MARKETER OF THE YEAR RAY WHITE NZ 2022/2023 ANNUAL AWARDS Ray White Ferrymead #1 in Sales Award Winner 20<strong>17</strong> - 2023 Sell with The Standevens The Standevens thestandevens@raywhite.com • Simon 0274 304 691 • Paula 0275 472 852