Most popular properties of 2021 on Trade Me revealed

Trade Me has unveiled the most popular property listings of 2021, with several well-known homes and sites capturing Kiwis’ attention.

The most viewed listing of the year was Margaret Mahy’s cottage near Lyttelton, Christchurch. The three-bedroom house in Governors Bay was built in 1968 and home to the author until her death in 2012. It received 94,408 views.

“Believed to be designed by architect Tom Taylor, this mid-century modern gem has some incredible harbour views,” said Trade Me’s Ruby Topzand.

“The house had an RV of $640,000 – we reckon that’s a fairly decent price for the home of a creative genius.”

Coming in second was The Britten Stables, horse stables originally built in 1903 for Mona Vale Gardens in Christchurch that were converted into a home by Kiwi motorcycle design legend John Britten. It was in this house’s garage that the engineer built the Britten V1000 motorcycle, which broke a number of world speed records.

The site had an asking price of $5m and reached 86,291 views on Trade Me.

A piece of film history was the third most-viewed property of the year on the website. A retired film set in Whitemans Valley, Upper Hutt, the 10-acre lifestyle block has a small town with post office, church and service stations, each preserved from their time as the backdrop to television shows in the 1980s like Peppermint Twist. It was viewed 77,863 times.

New Zealand broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes’ Mana Lodge received 76,848 views with an asking price of $6m. The fourth most popular listing of the year, the estate is on a “whopping” 18.6 hectares of farmland in Poukawa “with equestrian facilities, a tree-lined driveway and a private pond with a feature fountain to boot”.

In fifth was a property titled Nautical Dated Darling, described as a “dome structured house with triangle windows”. This house featured on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and got 73,465 views.