![\"Homeowners](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5232b45bc01b5bfdf5f55c11164f43d8.jpg\")
<\/p>\n– Homeowners unwilling to sell at a loss in the current market are renovating instead.<\/p>\n
– Some Kiwis are borrowing up to $600,000 to upgrade homes they already own. <\/p>\n
– Even homeowners in Christchurch, one of New Zealand\u2019s strongest housing markets, are staying put.<\/p>\n
Homeowners are increasingly shelving plans to sell, opting to renovate rather than relocate and lock in losses that could run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
For others, the cost of moving and building new has become too hard to justify.<\/p>\n
Builders, mortgage advisers and interior designers say more homeowners are choosing to improve what they have rather than start again somewhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have said we thought we might sell, but the market being what it is we\u2019ve decided it\u2019s silly to sell because we paid $1.5 million for it and it\u2019s now worth $1.3m so we\u2019ll renovate the kitchen and live in it for another three or four years and wait for the market to recover,\u201d Loan Market\u2019s Karen Tatterson told OneRoof.<\/p>\n
Mortgage adviser Michelle Isemonger said homeowners were borrowing big sums to upgrade existing homes. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had quite a few in the last couple of weeks from $300,000 to even $600,000 of lending. They\u2019re going, \u2018OK, we\u2019re happy where we are. Let\u2019s just do the renovations, and then we\u2019ll stay in it for another 10 years\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Loan advisers are seeing more customers wanting to borrow money for renovations. Photo \/ Getty Images <\/p>\n
The shift comes as new figures from property insights firm Cotality found that around 13% of property resales in the three months to June got a price less than the owner originally paid, which is the worst reading since late 2012. <\/p>\n
Interior designer Laura Heynike, of Pocketspace Interiors, said the shift began in Auckland when new RVs were issued 18 months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have been really digging their heels in for the next five years until the expectation of what the vendor wants and what the buyer is prepared to pay for a house aligns,\u201d she told OneRoof.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not just lower house prices keeping people in their homes. Homeowners in one of the country\u2019s strongest housing markets are making the same decision \u2013 sometimes for a different reason.<\/p>\n
Christchurch-based builder Lance Irving said a new home had become harder to budget for amid rising material and labour costs.<\/p>\n
Discover more:<\/p>\n
– ‘I’m not the easiest customer’: Mike Pero selling up after island property swap<\/a><\/p>\n – Xero country boss lists her mid-century ‘masterpiece’ home for close to $5m<\/a><\/p>\n – Four weeks into real estate, a $30m Lotto winner walked through his door …<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a couple in their 60s who were planning to build but have decided to stay in their current home and renovate it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One Auckland builder said renovation work filled the gap left by a slowdown in new-home construction.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had not had the renovation capability, we would have been under significant stress as a business,\u201d Faulkner Construction managing director Ross McConnell said.<\/p>\n \u201c2020 to 2023, we would have been 50\/50 for new builds and renovations; now it\u2019s almost 100% renovations.\u201d<\/p>\n Pocketspace Interiors Laura Heynike says not everyone is renovating to avoid selling at a loss. Photo \/ Fiona Goodall<\/p>\n The trend is also backed up by the data.<\/p>\n![\"Homeowners](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/68cf68a66a22094a723ec9663c7f2c5e.jpg\")
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