Welcome Bay resident Robyn Williams has lived in the area since 1981. Photo / George Novak
How much did you spend on your first home? Do you know what your home would be worth now? Tauranga home values have shot up in the last five years, but despite strong value growth real estate agents say it is still a first-home buyer market. Property reporter Zoe Hunteranalyses OneRoof/Valocity's latest property report and puts the spotlight on the city's best-performing suburbs.
The median property value in Welcome Bay has increased by $240,000 in the last five years, new data has revealed.
If you bought a home in Welcome Bay for $375,000 in 2014, your home could now be worth around $615,000 - an increase of 64 per cent - according to the latest OneRoof and Valocity property report.
Welcome Bay's median value also grew 7 per cent in the year to June, topping the list of best-performing suburbs for the period.
The report showed Welcome Bay recorded 186 sales in 2018, totalling $114 million.
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OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said Tauranga's metamorphosis from a traditional retiree market to a first-home buyer market had fuelled rapid house price inflation.
Vaughan said while most Tauranga homes sold for between $600,000 and $750,000, nearly a third of all residential property was valued less than $600,000.
"That increases appeal among first home buyers who now account for 23.6 per cent of new mortgage registrations," he said.
But Vaughan said the growth in the city's home values had stalled in the last year, with the median value growing 5.6 per cent year-on-year.
Vaughan said a general "wait-and-see" approach was driving a plateau in house price growth in Tauranga.
Investor activity had also dropped their share in mortgage registrations to just 18.2 per cent.
Anton Jones of Tremains said there had been a "big shift" in the market as more first home buyers moved into the area in search of a better lifestyle.
"There has also been good growth in population in Tauranga," he said. "We had had a real boom market in terms of value in the last five years. It has slowed, but it hasn't stopped."
Heath Young from Bayleys said more investors and migration to the Bay of Plenty from Auckland and other regions was behind the city's growth in home values.
Young said the city's home values were growing at a "healthy" rate, with 5.6 per cent on $665,000 totalling an extra $37,000.
"It is pleasing to see that first home buyers have increased and absorbed the decline in investor buyers," he said.
"First home buyers along with other purchasers now have more choice, time and access to a historically low interest rate environment."
Tauranga's rising value suburbs Suburb growth in the last 12 months 1. Welcome Bay $615,000 - $575,000 (7%) 2. Ōtūmoetai $700,000 - $655,000(6.9%) 3. Pyes Pā $735,000- $700,000 (5%) 4. Mount Maunganui $755,000 - $720,000 (4.9%) 5. Brookfield $565,000 - $540,000 (4.6%)
Total number of sales in 2018 Welcome Bay: 186 Ōtūmoetai: 147 Pyes Pā: 279 Mount Maunganui: 380 Brookfield: 78
Total value of sales in 2018 Welcome Bay: $114m Ōtūmoetai: $104,119,200 Pyes Pā: $192,239,807 Mount Maunganui: $312,919545 Brookfield: $43,263,250
Tauranga's top sales 1. 5 Oceanbeach Rd, Mount Maunganui: $5.5m 2. 38 Te Ngaio Rd, Mount Maunganui: $3.1m 3. 22 Victoria Rd, Mount Maunganui $2.925m 4. 113 Waratah St, Matua: $2.9m 5. 214 Oceanbeach Rd, Mount Maunganui: $2.9m