Hamilton home consents skyrocket
A demand for housing in Hamilton has seen more building consents granted in the first nine months than in the whole of 2014 .
The halo effect of Auckland’s housing market continues to extend to the Waikato, with the number of residential building permits granted skyrocketing on that of last year.
Regions around Auckland saw the biggest rise on last year’s permit numbers, with the Waikato region increasing by 158.
In September 2015, 124 residential building permits were granted in Hamilton to the combined value of $32,156,593.
At the same time in 2014, only 48 were granted to the combined value of $13,715,429.
So far in 2015, there have been four months during which more than 100 residential building consents were granted in Hamilton. This is a feat that only occurred once in 2014.
After nine months, the total number of new dwellings granted building consent in Hamilton in has reached 873, surpassing the 2014 12-month total of 780.
Recent information released by Statistics New Zealand shows in September this year, 2242 new dwellings were granted consent across New Zealand – 257 more than at the same time last year – with Hamilton seeing 76 more consents granted than in September 2014.
Versatile Home and Buildings’ Hamilton Director Andrea McCluskey said there had been a noticeable increase in demand for new houses in 2015, and they had been dealing with more people looking to relocate from Auckland this year than in the past.
“That’s because of the house prices in Auckland,” she said.
Harcourts Rototuna branch manager Trent Finlay said the number of people coming out of Auckland had really increased in the past 12 months.
“The over-heated housing market in Auckland has really driven people to a point where they are really assessing their options and the Waikato has been seen – Hamilton specifically – as a serious lifestyle choice,” Finlay said.
“There are two types of buyers coming out of Auckland. One of them is an investor buyer – so they’re buying a rental property down here where they’ve got a lower price of entry compared to Auckland. For the ones that are moving down here, again it’s cost of housing. It’s a lot more affordable, they can get a lot more value for money down here,” he said.
Bay of Plenty and Northland had also experienced a similar rise on last year’s September figures, increasing by 72 and 49 respectively.
“Given what interest rates are doing and the fact there is good population growth forecast for the foreseeable future, we think there will be a steady demand out of people moving down from Auckland,” Finlay said.
“House prices continuing to rise can’t last forever, and it won’t, but I do think we’ve got another good 12-18 months ahead of us.”
