Holiday hungry Cantabrians seek properties closer to home

Holiday hungry Cantabrians and Australians are choosing to invest in sections and houses short distances from their backyard since Covid-19 shut the door on international travel.

A section recently sold to an Australian buyer for a record $395,000 in Castle Hill Village – less than 90 minutes from Christchurch and close to skifields and mountainbike tracks – while there is also big interest in tourist towns Hanmer Springs and Akaroa, which are also a short drive to the city.

Harcourts sales consultant Matthew Loose told The Press he believed the inability to travel had been a factor in increasing demand.

Originally a tiny ski village in the 1980s, Castle Hill is nearly doubling in size because of a new subdivision allowing up to 111 new plots and planned commercial centre.

The record land sale follows a section changing hands for $315,000, after purchased for $159,000 in 2018.

Despite all sections being sold, Loose has interest from more than 100 prospective buyers on his books, mostly from Canterbury. The scarcity of supply had also been a factor in the village’s popularity.

‘‘It’s pretty buoyant at the moment and there’s lots of activity.’’

Castle Hill Property Investments director David Jessep said a closed border and New Zealanders realising how ‘‘spectacular’’ their own backyard was had increased demand in holiday homes and sections.

Jessep said Castle Hill was the kind of place that had been forgotten about, and suddenly people were beginning to notice it.

In Hanmer Springs, Century 21 agent Ria Leung said she had three inquiries from Australians on Wednesday. She also had two potential buyers from Singapore.

There had been a high number of enquiries from Canterbury in July, which she attributed to the border closure.

Land values increased during the lockdown and had continued to rise, Leung said, with lifestyle sections now costing around $400,000 in the popular thermal resort settlement.

Janice Clyma, from Property Brokers, has lived in Hanmer Springs for 40 years.

She said there had been a ‘‘big upturn’’ in Canterbury residents buying property, saying she had a lot more buyers than she had properties.

Clyma said years ago a non-premium section in the town would set purchasers back around $180,000, but that had now climbed to over $300,000 – a trend she expected to continue.

In Akaroa, Bayleys agent Chris Mangels said reduced ability to travel overseas had been a ‘‘big driver’’ of sales in the town.

Since Covid-19 they had experienced ‘‘massive inquiry’’ from Australians and some from the United Kingdom, but disrupted travel meant getting feet on the ground to view properties had affected their ability to purchase.

Mangels said many buyers were aged over 50 and were working less in the office since the pandemic.

‘‘Or they downsize in town to an apartment and have a residential property in Akaroa.’’

Earlier this year Bayleys sold a house in Akaroa with a rateable value of $570,000 for $1.2 million. Another sold for $1m over its RV.

In March, Harcourts Grenadier principal Andy Freeman pointed to statistics showing more than half (about 60 per cent) of homes in the region were not occupied full-time.

He said yesterday most sales remained to those in the market for a holiday home.

Many buyers were aged over 50 and were working less in the office since the pandemic.

Chris Mangels

Akaroa Bayleys agent