– Out-of-town buyers have significantly increased property values in Pātea, Castlecliff, Arrowtown, and Omaha.
– Pātea’s average property value rose 344%, while Castlecliff’s grew 294% over the past decade.
– High-value areas like Arrowtown and Omaha saw price increases exceeding $1m, driven by luxury demand.
From Pātea and Castlecliff to Arrowtown and Omaha: out-of-town buyers have completely transformed the cheapest and most expensive housing markets over the last 10 years, new research shows.
House price analysis by OneRoof and its data partner, Valocity, has identified the suburbs and towns where property values have increased the most since 2015.
Of the 912 suburbs covered in the research, 415 saw values more than double. Twenty-two were up by more than 200%, with the biggest growth in Pātea, in South Taranaki, and Castlecliff, Whanganui.
Pātea’s average property value jumped a whopping 344%, from $70,000 10 years ago to $311,000 at the end of July, while Castlecliff’s average property value almost tripled, with growth of 294% taking it from $115,000 in 2015 to $454,000 now.
The research also identified the biggest dollar increases in the last 10 years: 210 suburbs jumped more than half a million dollars in values, 17 of which were up by more than $1m.
High-value “bach” suburbs in Auckland and wealthy enclaves in Queenstown-Lakes were at the top of the list: Arrowtown’s average property value, just over $1m in 2015, grew by almost $2m, while values in neighbouring Lake Hayes were up by more than $1.8m, from $1m to $2.8m.
House prices on Waiheke island, Omaha and Point Wells – the favoured locations for holiday homes among wealthy Aucklanders – jumped by $1.4m-$1.6m over the same period.
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OneRoof reporter Catherine Smith talked to agents in these suburbs to find out what was driving the changes and how their markets were operating now. She found that outside money super-charged prices as did a rush to build townhouses and luxury homes.
Castlecliff’s transformation was substantial, both economically and socially. Agents told OneRoof that property values in the beachside suburb were still low enough to drawing hopeful home buyers from all over the country, with newcomers making up 30% of purchasers in the wider Whanganui area.
Castlecliff made headlines in the 80s, 90s and 2000s for its gang clashes. “If you googled Castlecliff 10 years ago, you’d have been frightened to be there. But that’s really changed,” Property Brokers regional manager Ritesh Verma told OneRoof.
The suburb benefitted from a regeneration master plan driven by enthusiastic new arrivals about 11 years ago. “When you come from out of town, you want to buy coastal because it’s so expensive in the city where you’ve come from,” Verma said, noting that the return of jobs in a new industrial park and a growing arts community have helped.
A two-bedroom house on Kowhai Street, in Castlecliff, which sold for $55,000 a decade ago, is for sale for $349,000. Photo / Supplied
Property Brokers agent Vicky Todd said that Castlecliff’s low prices first drew in local first-home buyers and then buyers from out of town. “People are getting there and discovering that it’s quite cool to be by the sea, there are cool artsy cafes.”
Todd said that prices started in the mid-$300,000s, although leasehold properties could be bought for around $200,000.
An upscale development on Longbeach Drive and Golf Vue Place, next to the golf club in the suburb, had also driven up prices, with luxury homes in the enclave fetching well over $1m. “You can park the boat, there’s views of the sea, the golf course, and Mount Taranaki,” Verma said.
The agents said the next 10 years would probably see the suburb’s “golden mile”, waterfront Karaka Street, benefitting from luxury new-builds to take full advantage of the sea views. “On a clear day, you can see the South Island. All the stuff is in line for that to happen.”
Castlecliff has come a long way since its “gang past” and is now a suburb whose residents take pride in their surroundings. Photo / Bevan Conley
Bayleys agent Crystal Boyd, who grew up in the suburb and built her first house on Golf Vue five years ago, said: “People have taken tired old homes and renovated them, and brought Castlecliff to life. It’s had a lot of investment.”
She added: “It’s the most affordable suburb in New Zealand, but then a year ago a place sold for $1.3m.”
Harcourts sales manager Shannon Jury, who recently moved to Castlecliff, told OneRoof that he could remember houses selling for $25,000 when he arrived in Whanganui over 20 years ago. “It’s taken a bit of time for the locals to see past the stigma, but the out-of-towners see waterfront and a great lifestyle,” he said. “It was ripe for gentrification.”
He points to a house at 51 Kowhai Street, listed by Harcourts agent Gavin Milverton. The two-bedroom 1960s house sold 10 years ago for $55,000 and is now on the market for $349,000. “All of Whanganui is a well-kept secret. I sold my first house in 2016 for $110,000. Now there’s nothing under $350,000. It just needed people to be proud of where they live.”
In Pātea, a country town of around 1300 people that shot to fame some 40 years ago when the Pātea Māori Club’s single Poi E dominated the airwaves, First National agent Kelly Baldwin also highlighted the impact made by out-of-town buyers.
Pātea Māori Club, in Pātea. The town has seen house prices jump more than 300% in the last 10 years. Photo / Supplied
Baldwin, who has lived in Pātea since 2012, said that her clients were mostly owner-occupiers, drawn to the community and amenities of the small town. “I’d say 95% of my sales in the past year have been people from elsewhere, Wellington, Auckland, even the South Island,” she said.
Out-of-town buyers have also driven price growth in Queenstown-Lakes, although purchasers are coming with much larger budgets and expectations of luxury.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris said growing demand for a limited supply of properties was driving price growth in suburbs like Arrowtown, Lake Hayes and Kelvin Heights.
“They’re not big suburbs, so you’ve got the scarcity factor. And people are moving for the lifestyle,” he said, adding that Queenstown-Lakes homes were also popular with overseas buyers.
Harris said big new-build homes were driving record prices, as was buyer demand for premium lakefront spots (in Lake Hayes, there are few mountain-facing lakefront properties available). In Wānaka, his colleague Kylie Stewart recently got $14m for a modern trophy home on Beacon Point Road.
House prices in Arrowtown, in Queenstown-Lakes, have jumped by almost $2m in the last 10 years. Photo / Supplied
A luxury home on Beacon Point Road, in Wanaka, recently sold for $14m, in a deal inked by NZ Sotheby’s. Photo / Supplied
“Someone from out of town, they’ve heard of the views and the lake, they want to be able to see the mountains. More recently, we’ve seen a shift to properties close to golf courses, or Ayrburn or restaurants,” he said, adding that price growth in the district remained steady since 2015, pausing but not dropping after the post-Covid peak.
On Waiheke, NZ Sotheby’s managing director Chris Jones said scarcity of new stock, the result of the island’s strict development rules, had driven price growth in his patch, which includes the renowned beach suburbs of Onetangi, Palm Beach and Oneroa.
He noted that Waiheke was now viewed as a permanent destination, with the bach lifestyle it offered now something homeowners wanted all year round. “More people want to come and live here,” he said.
The same phenomenon can be seen in the beach towns of Omaha and Point Wells, on Auckland’s northern fringe.
NZ Sotheby’s managing director Mark Harris: “Someone from out of town, they’ve heard of the views and the lake, they want to be able to see the mountains.” Photo / Supplied
Ray White Matakana and Omaha co-owner Victoria Turner said prices in her patch had significantly changed in the last 10 years. “My first sale nine years ago was an off-market beachfront [home] in North Omaha that sold for $3.1m. That property would be worth $7m now. Entry level then was $800,000,” she told OneRoof.
Last week, she sold a “quintessential 1980s Omaha bach” for well above its RV of $1.375m. The owners had bought it 11 years ago for $500,000.
Like Waiheke owners, Omaha and Point Wells buyers were now more likely to be commuting to the city, not just holidaying in the area. “When we moved here with a young family 13 years ago, people thought we were absolutely mad. There was only one other permanent household on our street,” Turner said.
“Demand is well over supply. People are waiting for the right property to come up, whether that’s $1.5m or perfect beachfront for over $9m.”
A trophy home at 8 Lagoon Way, in Omaha, is back on the market for sale less than a year after it sold for $7.5m. Photo / Supplied
Precision agent Di Balich agreed. With less than 1400 properties in Omaha and 350 in Point Wells, there were simply too few opportunities to buy in the beachside suburbs.
“I’m not aware of distressed sales. There’s no pressure to sell, so prices have held. These were desirable places 10 years ago, and they’ve become more desirable,” Balich told OneRoof.
“Point Wells has piggybacked on the success of Omaha. It’s not second best; it’s more family friendly.”
Omaha price records continue to be broken. Balich sold a waterfront spread on Taumata Road for $9.3m and may get even more for a trophy home she is quietly marketing to her database at around the $11m mark.
A luxurious five-bedroom bach for sale at 8 Lagoon Way last sold nine months ago for $7.5m. Balich expects the sale price will be more this year. “By how much, we don’t know,” she said.