Hawke's Bay lifestyle attracting Aucklanders despite rising house prices

Janet Wilson and Bill Ralston will be renovating a 1950s Te Awanga property. Photo / File

Despite the Hawke's Bay housing market hitting record levels for the third month in a row, prices remain appealing for Aucklanders looking to move away from the big smoke.

Bill Ralston and his wife Janet Wilson moved to Hawke's Bay from Auckland a year ago, and said they have not looked back since.

"The kind of business my wife and I run, we go all over the country anyway, and Hawke's Bay has a good air service, it's easy to work from here if we're going to Wellington or New Plymouth or Christchurch and Dunedin.

"We've been coming down to Hawke's Bay for over a decade, for little breaks when we could. We rent a bach on Ocean Beach with some friends, so we were constantly in and out of the region and we simply decided we might as well come down from Auckland and enjoy the better weather."

The couple have retained their Auckland property for now but intend to sell that to help pay for serious renovations on their new Te Awanga property.

"It's a very old 1950s bach and it's in need of extensive renovations - so, that's probably next summer's job.

"Obviously, to do the place up we're going to have to sell the place in Auckland to finance that."

The couple had been keeping an eye of the region's property prices for the last five years, and there had been a definite upwards move of late.

"Prices have significantly escalated in value, as people have come the conclusions that we have that the lifestyle is just far better than in Auckland or Wellington.

"We're loving it there. I'm actually working up in Auckland this week and I can't wait to get back to where I can just look out of my window and see the sea roll in."