Strong growth in the Ashburton real estate market over the last 12 months is expected to continue this year, local
property experts predict.
An increase in first-time home buyers and low interest rates has driven a strong residential market in Mid Canterbury
which shows no sign of slowing down.
Property Brokers Ashburton Branch Manager Murray Young said the region had always been a strong area, but low interest
rates were now giving investors the confidence to return to the marketplace.
“Kiwisaver has also helped give first-time home buyers a deposit that some may not have been able to save for otherwise.
That has certainly helped drive this part of the market.”
Property Brokers Canterbury General Manager, Chris Moore, who was previously General Manager of Property Brokers
Hastings McLeod in Ashburton, said provincial New Zealand was proving to be more and more popular with buyers.
“We are seeing urban drift from the main centres to provincial New Zealand and Ashburton is benefiting from that. From a
real estate perspective, we had a very big year last year and 2020 has kicked off in a similar vein with the team
selling lots of real estate. All in all, it is very positive.”
Last year Property Brokers Hastings McLeod, which had been a franchise of Property Brokers for nine years, was bought by
the Palmerston-North-based group, giving the local operation access to a network of 64 branches across the country, as
well as IT and marketing support.
Chris says the transition has been seamless for Property Brokers’ clients and staff.
“To be honest, it has very much been business as usual. We have had, and continue to have, a fantastic team in
Ashburton. The sales team is virtually the same, with the addition of Robert Harnett, and we continue to have a strong
market share throughout Ashburton.”
“We have seen our market share increase throughout 2019 as a result of hard work, trusted people and a strong brand
presence. This will continue under the Property Brokers brand.”
Murray said the fact that the office had been operating for 45 years since it first began as Hastings McLeod and had a
good mix of salespeople stood it in great stead.
“We have some team members who have been working for well over 30 years locally in the real estate industry and some
relative ‘newbies’ with 3-5 years’ experience. It is also a good time to introduce new salespeople to our business and
the industry and this will be happening over the next few months.”
“We are the leading all-round Real Estate company in Mid Canterbury with strong residential, lifestyle, rural and
commercial sales as well as an extensive property management division. Property Brokers has been in the background for
the last nine years, but now that we are an integral part of it, we think it is going to be great to have the services
of a modern and established company.
Chris says that Property Brokers Ashburton is seeing good demand for properties, both residentially and commercially.
“We have got a good investor base who we continue to work with as far as our property management division is concerned.
Rural has been a lot harder over the last 24 months, but our guys continue to work hard for their clients. We still
continue to see good results being achieved in the rural market, albeit significantly behind the highs of four or five
years ago.”
There is a team of 12 in the Ashburton office comprising residential, commercial, lifestyle and rural salespeople. With
additional new recruits joining the team in the next few months and the office is looking to grow its property
management portfolio as well over the next two to three years.
Chris says that Property Brokers plans to strengthen its involvement in the Ashburton community.
“We do a lot in the community in Ashburton around sponsorship, fundraising and events like Toot for Tucker. For us it
always about the community. Our people are passionate about the community. They live and are part of their communities
and that is what has created success. It’s about that link to the community.”