According to the latest CoreLogic stats which showed the growth percentage of 74 New Zealand areas and their average house values Hastings was ranked 15 with 85 percent. Photo / File
What were you doing in Hawke's Bay in 2009?
If you were buying a house in Napier or Hastings, congratulations. The value of your house has risen 80 per cent in 10 years, new statistics show.
CoreLogic measured the growth in value of property in 74 New Zealand areas from 2009 to 2019.
Hastings was the 15th fastest growing area. with an average house value now 85 per cent higher than 2009.
Napier wasn't too far behind in 20th, on 82 per cent growth.
Central Hawke's Bay was ranked 38 with 65 per cent growth and Wairoa sat closest to the bottom at 71st, growing 31 per cent since March 2009.
Tremains Hawke's Bay sales manager Stuart Christensen said a big cause for the huge increase over the 10 years was the fallout of the recession.
"We were only starting to recover from the GFC [global financial crisis], which led to a fairly flat 3-4 years in the property market afterwards," he said.
"One thing that started to help build the market up again was the investment into first-home buyers, which allowed them to purchase entry level homes and opened up sellers to being able to purchase higher up in the market."
That recent growth is also shown in the reports with Hastings and Napier seeing prices increase significantly over the past five years: Hastings by 76 per cent and Napier 71 per cent.
Christensen also said that the migration of people from bigger regions has been a big factor into the growth of the region.
"There were a lot of people investing into the region especially over the past five years, but we also saw significant growth coming from Christchurch."
He said for 16-18 months a huge influx of people moved to Hawke's Bay after the Canterbury earthquakes, most of them families who found the two quakes too much and decided to move up.
Stewart Financial Group chief executive Nick Stewart said that the region's growth has only really been in the past 4-5 years.
"The region has had a phenomenal growth over the past few years in industry especially in horticulture and agriculture," he said.
"If you compare what Hawke's Bay looked like 10 years ago until today the region has changed massively."
Being the first developed country to enter into recession just before the GFC, he said, helped in the growth we are experiencing now.
"It was a case of first in first out and in the long run we were better for it being able to rebuild quicker and recover better than other countries," Stewart said.
That boost has seen an increased number of people moving to the region as well as an increased number of businesses making the move as well.
"People come to Hawke's Bay because they know they can set up factories and businesses in this region and have their employees live a great lifestyle, great climate and reasonably priced housing compared to bigger regions."
Opening three new hospital buildings in Auckland and Hastings pushed up vacancies.