Lauren Pedersen has just bought her first home in Mount Maunganui but says you have to pay the price to live there. Photo / Andrew Warner
Lauren Pedersen has just bought her first home in Mount Maunganui but says you have to pay the price to live there. Photo / Andrew Warner
Nearly 11 houses sold every day last month as the number of sales leapt 57.8 per cent in Tauranga and 22.5 per cent in Mount Maunganui and Papamoa from the same time last year.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's latest figures show Tauranga leading the way with year-on-year increases in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.
More than 200 houses sold in Tauranga in May, up from 128 in May 2014. House sales across Mount Maunganui and Papamoa jumped from 102 in May 2014 to 125 last month.
Tauranga sales had not been that high since March 2007 when 214 houses sold, followed by 225 in March 2005.
We find a lot of people start looking at the Mount before realising they might get more for their money in other areas.
Eves and Bayleys Real Estate chief executive Ross Stanway said last month's performance had been building for a while.
"The Lakes development would be significantly contributing to those figures," he said, and there was plenty of scope for new builds in coming months.
Simon Martin, of Harcourts. Photo/file
Price increases were being kept at a reasonable level thanks to enough new builds meeting the level of demand, he said.
Other areas contributing a significant number of new builds were Omokoroa and Papamoa East, he said.
"The challenge now is to have enough supply to keep up with the demand."
The difference in sale increases between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui/Papamoa did not mean too much, he believed, as they would change every month depending on where supply was.
Mount Maunganui and Papamoa Ray White Realty Focus franchise owner Greg Purcell said the 22.5 per cent increase was expected but he was interested to see if supply could keep up with demand in the next six months.
"We've had a scarcity of stock issue," he said.
"Buyers aren't the issue. It's finding stock to buy."
Aucklanders were fuelling demand but not supply, he said.
His agents had been busy with appraisals as many people were considering getting into the market as demand pushed up prices, he said.
Mount waiting game pays off for home owner
Lauren Pedersen missed out on a number of houses before she won the auction last month for her new home in Mount Maunganui.
Despite the increased house sales last month, she said the competition was still "shocking" at open homes and auctions.
"The auctions are ferocious. They start high and kick a lot of people out in the opening bid."
Prices were getting above what she wanted to pay but she had decided on Mount Maunganui and waited until the right place came along - further away from Mount Maunganui than she had first hoped.
"You just realise how much cheaper it gets as soon as you go past Golf Rd and the further you go towards Papamoa and into Tauranga as well."
She thought she could get "more bang for her buck" - bigger house and full section - in Tauranga but was willing to get less to live at the Mount.
"You've got to be ready and willing to spend a little more than your budget," she said. She was glad she had taken the plunge in May because similar houses in a similar area were selling for more since.
The majority of her friends had moved from Mount Maunganui to Papamoa or Tauranga for better housing options.Rebecca Savory
