An aerial view of Rotorua suburb Western Heights. Photo / File
An aerial view of Rotorua suburb Western Heights. Photo / File
Rotorua's top five sales for the year have been revealed as a new report shows nearly $4 billion was spent on residential property in the region in 2020.
New data also shows Rotorua's median house price jumped $77,000 in just 11 months.
According to the Real Estate Institute of NewZealand, Rotorua's median price started the year at $490,000 and jumped 15.7 per cent to $567,000 by November.
It comes as Reinz's annual review of New Zealand's residential property market showed $3.9b was spent on residential property in the Bay in 2020 compared to $3.3b in 2019.
Reinz chief executive Bindi Norwell said this year had been an interesting one for the real estate industry.
"We've seen record median prices reached in many parts of the country, with November itself seeing 11 new regional records – the likes of which we haven't seen since October 2003 when the market was seeing significant increases in house prices."
"We are expecting 2021 to see ongoing regional growth as workplaces become more flexible, remote work continues and New Zealanders settle into the 'new normal'."
The top sales in Rotorua from January 1 to November 30 have also been revealed. That included a home on Rangiuru Bay Rd in Lake Tarawera that was sold by Bayleys agent Jenny Donne for just above $3 million.
Harcourts Rotorua sales manager Colville Barbour said Lake Tarawera, where four of the top five sales were recorded, was a popular lake for out-of-towners and as a holiday home destination.
Barbour said the $3.9b figure did not surprise him and he expected December to have added even more to the total spend.
"I can't say for sure if it was a record but it's certainly the highest in my time in terms of sales volumes, and we've had some high sales among that."
He described the property market's annual performance as "exceptional" given the interruption of Covid-19 lockdown.
"We were busy up until the lockdown and then we got even busier afterward," he said.
"That's because of a collaboration of low-interest rates and investors being active in the market."
However, he said while investors might be challenged by changes to loan-to-value ratios (LVR) in the new year, first-home buyers would come to the fore.
Professionals McDowell Real Estate co-owner Steve Lovegrove. Photo / File
Professionals McDowell Real Estate co-owner Steve Lovegrove said Lake Tarawera was a premium area and lake view property was becoming increasingly sought after.
"It's an area where wealthy people from outside the region want to come and holiday," he said.
"Over the last four to five years there's been exceptional growth in any lake-edge property, including Okareka, Tarawera, Rotoiti and even as far as Rotoma."
Lovegrove said he expected to see a flurry of activity in January as many people held off selling property until the new year.
"We're going to see quite a rapid amount of movement between January to March."
However, he said those who wanted to settle before Christmas pushed to make it happen.
"There was a big push for closure before Christmas to make sure deals happened," he said. "I think you could almost say there was a stock sellout before Christmas."
Tremains Rotorua sales manager Megan Davies said the popularity at Lake Tarawera was most likely because of people returning from overseas and seeking a lifestyle by the lake.
Davies said the company had a few big sales in the million-dollar-or-above price bracket, including a home in Lake Okareka that sold pre-auction for $1.3m and another above $1m on Te Ngae Rd near the airport.
This year had proven tricky for first-home buyers to get into the market, she said, while many investors had decided to offload their property back into the market because of stricter rental rules.
"It's going to be an interesting year next year ... I don't think it's going to get any easier for first-home buyers."
Rotorua's top 5 sales for 2020
1.
9 Rangiuru Bay Rd Lake Tarawera, Rotorua $3,025,000
2.
241 Spencer Rd Lake Tarawera, Rotorua $2,300,000
3.
297 Spencer Rd Lake Tarawera, Rotorua $2,275,000
4.
Victoria, Rotorua $2,220,000
5.
457 Spencer Rd Lake Tarawera, Rotorua $2,200,000
Note: Sales without addresses have not yet settled and full addresses could not be given.
