Country House Hunters NZ has returned to TV screens with a new title: Find My Country House NZ.
The series takes city dwellers and shows them homes for sale in the New Zealand countryside.
Find My Country House NZ was TVNZ1’s second most-watched show in January after 1News, making it a ratings success.
It’s a crisp, cool morning in scenic Central Otago, and house hunters Joni and Luke are standing in a stranger’s garden. The couple are looking for their new dream home – their fourth together – and have travelled the short distance from Queenstown to Lake Hayes to find the perfect property. It’s music to host Matt Gibb’s ears. “I’m on a hunt to find everyday Kiwis their perfect country house,” he announces in the introduction to the new series of Find My Country House New Zealand. Moments later, these “everyday Kiwis” reveal exactly how much money they have to spend on their new home.
Joni and Luke’s budget? Between $4 million and $6 million.
That’s right, an extremely relatable $6m budget. I rewound the episode to double-check they weren’t joking, but Joni and Luke didn’t even put their pinky to their lips and say it in a Dr Evil voice. That’s how you know they’re serious.
We may be in the midst of both a cost of living crisis and a housing crisis, but not on Find My Country House NZ. Photo / TVNZ
It’s a bold move for Find My Country House NZ to kick off a new season with a pair of house hunters whose budget is bigger than most people’s dream Lotto win. We may be in the midst of a cost of living crisis and a housing crisis, but not on Find My Country House NZ. This property series takes city dwellers and shows them homes for sale in the New Zealand countryside, offering them a tantalising glimpse of a more relaxed lifestyle filled with serenity, solitude and enough space to realise how far away they are from the nearest A&E department.
Last year the series – then known as Country House Hunters NZ – hit the headlines for showing one couple through a house they already owned. It didn’t let that delicious scandal keep it down, and returned to our screens in the new year with a brand new name to fill in the summer holiday TV void left by Seven Sharp.
Find My Country House NZ has been a ratings success for TVNZ1; January figures revealing it was consistently the second most-watched broadcast show after 1News. It seems TV viewers have adored watching Joni and Luke mull over how to spend the several million bucks burning a hole in their pockets, or Lana and Warren search for a property in Oxford with room for their chickens, or wonder whether Ted and Roseanne will indeed find their forever home with a bathtub in Ashburton for $800,000.
Find My Country House NZ is a beautiful show filmed in some of our most scenic regions, but nothing happens. Photo / TVNZ
What’s weird about this is that Find My Country House NZ is one of the least exciting shows on television. It’s a beautiful show filmed in some of our most scenic regions, but nothing happens. Nice people visit nice houses in nice towns, where they say nice things about the views and agree that they could definitely see themselves in that kitchen. Usually, they don’t buy any of the houses, and the only drama comes when the show cuts to an ad break right before Gibb reveals the price of each property. Absolute cliffhanger as to whether that European brick home with mountain views in Arrowtown will be in my price range or not, but you know, fingers crossed.
Perhaps we’re watching Country House Hunters because it exists in a world of its own. Rather than reminding us of the grim pressures of daily life, Find My Country House NZ offers a brief escape. I spent a perfectly fine 22 minutes watching retired farmer Davy house hunt for his sister-in-law Margo, an interior designer who lives in Dubai but wants to buy a home in Wānaka for $2m. The first house Davy visited was an incredible 1970s wonder that included a bedroom covered in a wallpaper print of topless women. I would have moved there in an instant. (It later sold for $2.85m, possibly because of all the boobs).
Or maybe it’s the relaxed charm of presenter Matt Gibb. He’s relentlessly upbeat and amiable, and never gets mad when the house hunters don’t buy any of the nice houses he’s spent an entire day showing them. Instead of taking it personally and throwing a garden gnome into a barbecue in disgust, Gibb simply tells the house hunters to keep in touch, and I think he actually means it. He has an impressive collection of winter coats, and I hope this year’s NZ TV Awards recognise the episode where he goes to a Canterbury property decorated with tiny fairy houses and then pretends to film a TV show for fairy house hunters.
Maybe we're watching the show because of Matt Gibb's relaxed charm. Photo / TVNZ
Back in Lake Hayes, everyone’s having a lovely time. “I’ve thrown the budget out the window!” Gibb announces gleefully as he takes Luke and Joni to their first open home, a four-bedroom home with three ensuites, priced at $8m. Sadly, when the couple meet with Gibb again, they decide none of the multimillion-dollar properties they’ve seen are right for them. It’s back to Queenstown for these everyday New Zealanders, and off to Alexandra, Selwyn, Matamata and Waihī Beach for Gibb. The search for the perfect country home continues.
Find My Country House NZ is available to catch up on TVNZ+.
