Section sales in the town and wider Selwyn district appear to be bucking a nationwide trend of a gradual reduction to the rate of increase to real estate prices.
CoreLogic NZ’s house price index showed that the nationwide growth figure dropped from 7.2 per cent at the end of June to 5.9 per cent at the end of July.
Matson and Allan Real Estate Ltd director Chris Flanagan said there was currently no indication of Selwyn’s section price rises slowing.
He had not seen the market so buoyant and aggressive in the about 35 years he had been selling in the district.
“Even in the last two to three months, it’s just sort of gone a bit crazy really,” Flanagan said.
“There’s been a significant increase in section prices, Rolleston, Leeston, Dunsandel, Darfield, it’s right across the board,” Flanagan said.
Examples included the 32-section Hanks Run at Rolleston. Sections in stage one, with an average size of 750 sq m, sold for an average price of $361,000 about two months ago. Sections in stage two, with an average size of 695 sq m, sold for an average of $385,000 per section about four weeks ago. Six to 12 months prior, sections of that type and size were selling for $170,000 to $180,000.
Soon the agency would be selling some 700-800 sq m sections on Brookside Rd on behalf of the Selwyn District Council, and it was possible they would fetch more than the Hanks Run sections.
In Dunsandel, the Dunsandel Estate subdivision had 29 sections averaging 900 sq m with an average price of $235,000. Twelve months ago they would have been worth $160,000.
At Darfield, the agency had just sold stage three of Torlesse Estate, which had sections ranging from 2000 to 5000 sq m. Stage three had nine sections, there had been an average of four offers received for each, and the price they sold for was $350,000 to $400,000.
Darfield was getting more interest from potential buyers as the district council committed to a sewerage system for the town, as this meant residents would not have to install septic tanks.
His company had not had any recent section sales at Lincoln and Prebbleton, but strong residential house sales indicated those townships were generally following the same trend as the rest of the district.
Buyers in the district ranged from locals wanting to upsize and build, to building companies wanting to take house and land packages to the market.
“It’s purely a supply and demand thing, there’s a real shortage of sections and people are paying top dollar for them,” Flanagan said.
“Even building companies are prepared to go a bit further afield now to secure sections.”
