Wanaka house-hunters and real estate agents can expect to be busy this weekend, with at least 180 open homes scheduled over the holiday weekend.
Several auctions are also being advertised, with one of the most interesting occurring today at noon at 5 Stratford Tce, of two attached houses in a commercial area behind Cinema Paradiso.
Other auctions today include houses at 14 Rockhaven Rd (11am), 87 Hunter Cres (1pm) and 147 Aubrey Rd (1pm).
Real estate valuations were issued throughout Wanaka last week with most property owners reporting increases in official valuations.
The number of properties available for sale in Wanaka appears to be no different to other years.
Wanaka spokesman for the New Zealand Real Estate Institute, Ross Rainsford, said yesterday he felt encouraged by the large number of people calling into his office for information about the market.
People seemed positive because they had more in their wages through tax cuts and KiwiBank had announced it was cutting interest rates back, he said.
There was a good selection of homes on the market but lists were growing slightly, although "not roaring ahead".
Many vendors might feel cautious about upgrading to a new home in the present economic climate but Mr Rainsford expected those people would bide their time and make inquiries later.
Mr Rainsford said he did not expect Wanaka property prices would take a nose dive. Median prices had not changed in the past year, he said.
The difficult thing with cycles was you did not know until six months later what was happening, he said.
