PHOTO: Tauranga – FILE
First-home buyers are purchasing properties in regional areas as they try and get onto the property ladder.
Increasing house prices are continuing to be a barrier to homeownership, but REINZ says the regional the strategy is growing in popularity.
That’s because while prices in the big cities might be sky-high, in regional markets they are far more reasonable, leaving buyers with more options.
The latest Real Estate Institute data has median prices in Auckland and Wellington at $1 million and $785,000 respectively.
In Queenstown, the median price is $1.01m and in Tauranga it’s $810,000.
In contrast, the median price in South Waikato is $350,000, in Whanganui it’s $405,000, in Timaru it’s $410,000 and in Invercargill it’s $369,000.
Real Estate Institute chief executive Bindi Norwell says she has heard lots of reports of people moving to the regions to get on to the property ladder.
Norwell says doing so has long been a strategy, but with the greater acceptance of remote working and people reappraising their lifestyles post-COVID, it was an increasing trend.
“But we are also seeing a lot of people moving to areas that are more affordable and where they can get better value for their money. It’s a big trend and one that will only continue.”
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