Opportunities Seen in Northern Suburbs
Rental prices in Wellington’s northern suburbs are up and house sales are still steady, according to First National
Johnsonville principal Paul Coltart.
“In April we had a record month with the number of properties we
let. Rentals are still going strong and our vacancy rates are currently down to 2%.
Part of the increase in rentals was driven by home sellers taking their properties off the market when they were not
getting the offers they had in mind, Mr Coltart said.
“Rent prices have also risen steadily. In April/May last year the average rental for our area was $370 pw and for the
same period this year it was $400, an increase of 8%.
Entry level rentals for the same periods rose from $220pw to $255pw, an increase of around 16%.
Top end rentals again for the same months rose from $650pw to more than $700pw.
“This is partly due to demand from potential buyers who prefer to sit and wait thinking that house prices will fall and
partly from those who cannot afford the higher costs of borrowing money,” Mr Coltart said.
“Sales volume for the area dropped from around 110 a month to about 70 in July last year. Since then, however, sales
numbers remain about 70 a month with a few multi-offer situations starting to creep back.”
Much of the market activity in the area of the past couple of months had been driven by multicultural buyers.
“Multicultural buyers have always made up a good proportion of our business but that proportion has grown over the past
few months. It seems they are adapting to the market conditions a lot better than the ordinary Kiwi.
“They seem to be prepared to forgo their lattes, trim their lifestyle back and be more inclined to save for their
families future and put their money where it counts.
“Many Kiwis seem to be sitting around waiting for the market to change. Their attitude seems to be ‘if I can’t get what
I want then I will stay put.’
“Meanwhile multicultural customers seem to be less media reactive, more long term focused and are picking up some good
deals. They are seeing the opportunity this market brings and, with less competition, are capitalizing on it.
“Prices have steadied and the number of properties on the market has fallen. Provided sellers do not look to make
immediate solid gains on properties purchased in the past six or so months, they will not be disappointed.”
ENDS