– Out-of-town buyers pushed a five-bedroom home’s price to $1.263m near the University of Canterbury.
– A shortage of student accommodation in Christchurch is driving demand in Ilam and Avonhead.
– Parents are buying homes for their children, viewing it as both a lifestyle solution and investment.
Out-of-town buyers pushed up the price of a five-bedroom home near the University of Canterbury to $1.263 million in a bid to find somewhere for their university-attending children to live.
Christchurch agents told OneRoof a dire shortage of student accommodation in the city was driving demand for homes in the suburbs of Ilam and Avonhead, with many parents choosing to buy for their children instead of betting on the rental market.
All four bidders at last week’s auction for the Montclare Avenue property in Ilam were parents of students at Canterbury University. Three were from Auckland and one from Canterbury.
The Montclare Avenue home has three living areas, which appealed to buyers looking for student accommodation. Photo / Supplied
Griffioen agent Jonathan Borck said the buyer was from Auckland and flew down to Christchurch to visit his son and bought the house at the same time. He had been looking for about three months for a house for his son to live in with friends.
The action kicked off at $800,000, with the property announced on the market at $1.235m and the hammer coming down $28,000 later. The vendors were thrilled with the result and pocketed almost $150,000 more than what they paid three years ago at the peak of the market.
“They were just super happy. It exceeded everyone’s expectations,” he said.
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Griffioen owner Caleb Griffioen said the buyers had been looking for a long-term housing solution for their children, and they weren’t alone in wanting that. Buyers like them often wanted properties within walking distance of the university and with enough rooms to rent out to friends or flatmates for additional income. Off-street parking was also desirable.
“With University of Canterbury halls at full capacity, families are turning to the private market to provide certainty, quality, and proximity to campus. We’re seeing more and more parents view this as both a lifestyle solution and a long-term investment,” he told OneRoof.
Parents who had access to the capital saw buying as a win-win: They could put a roof over their child’s head at the same time as investing in property.
Canterbury University’s surge in popularity is putting pressure on Christchurch’s rental market. Photo / Getty Images
Bayleys agent Angela Webb has heard it was going to be even harder to get student accommodation this year compared to last year. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Angela Webb said demand for student rentals was seemingly up year-on-year. “My understanding is it has probably got worse. There are going to be more students than houses, which is why a lot of the parents are getting in early.”
Some were looking to buy now, even if their child did not need accommodation until 2027, she said, noting that the spike in demand was pushing up prices in Avonhead, Sockburn, Riccarton, Upper Riccarton, and parts of Burnside.
Webb, who specialises in selling investment properties, recently sold a seven-bedroom, three-bathroom 1940s weatherboard home on Wharenui Road, in Upper Riccarton, to an investor for $879,000, which was $209,000 above RV.
An investor paid $209,000 over RV for a seven-bedroom, three-bathroom 1940s weatherboard home on Wharenui Road, in Upper Riccarton, last month. Photo / Supplied
She said parent investors and the more traditional investors looked for different things. Parents typically looked for houses with two to six bedrooms (depending on their children’s friend groups) that were of reasonable quality and near the university. Investors, on the other hand, typically sought six-bedroom-plus properties because they offered the best return. They weren’t so worried if they were a bit further away.
“It is one market that people are making money in.”
Hamish Wilson, managing director of A1 Property Managers, said the firm had just started advertising its student flats for 2026, and the number of applications was overwhelming.
Eighty groups had lined up to view a five-bedroom, three-bathroom Ilam house priced at $205 a week per room.
Wilson said having 400m long lines of people waiting to see a property was becoming common because there were nowhere near enough properties to meet the growing demand.
“UC as a whole is very much the place to be, with 25,000 enrolments this year. That’s the size of Queenstown and a lot of people to house,” Wilson said.
“Now we are facing a shortage of supply.”
He said the price per room differed depending on what the property offered. However, they ranged from about $180 a week for a house that was a long walk from the university to $240 a week for a bedroom with an ensuite and within walking distance.
His advice to students trying to find accommodation was to look further afield in suburbs such as Broomfield, Upper Riccarton, and Sockburn.
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