Why has the Wairarapa performed so poorly?

[gonzo]

I am considering returning to NZ in the not so distant future and one of the areas I was considering locating in was the Wairapa (along with Kapiti coast, Tauranga and Nelson) and as I am aware that several forum membera live in the area I wondered if this article accorded with their own experience and if so whether they knew of any particular reason why it was the case. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...0637890&pnum=2

Thanks for your help

[Kiwi Mac]

Well, there will be a number of factors IMV.

1) Kiwis seem to regard any commute longer than 15 minutes as too long - whereas those of us from the UK have lived with 1hr plus commutes for years!

2) The article specifically mentions Featherston. In the UK (or most European countries) you would not be able to buy a house in Featherston for less than $1 million. Countryside location near wineries 1 hour commute from the capital? Imagine the cost of that near London! However, Featherston is one of the lower cost areas in the South Wairarapa - the weather is probably windier and wetter than Martinborough, Greytown etc due to the proximity to the mountains.

3) To live here you need to be happy with the fact that you don't have easy access to modern multiplex cinemas, sports centres, shopping and so on. Our closest Pack n Save, for example, is a 90km round trip. The nearest modern cinema is in Lower Hutt, about an hour each way by car.

4) The commute is easy however - my OH does it every day (when she can find work...!). There is a bus from the square in Martinborough that goes to the station at Featherston and meets all the return trains. The train part takes 1 hour, so the total for her door to door is around 90 minutes. It's relatively inexpensive: a monthly combined pass (bus/train) is about $350.

5) The property market here is largely driven by lifestyle/holiday home people, so of course those kinds of expenditure are amongst the first to go in a recession and the last to come back: this means that the market out here tends to lag behind the city market.

It is a great place to live: I have 30 vineyards within 5km of my house, 20 acres of my own, a doctor I can see next day, a library, 2 village shops, a butcher, numerous cafes and restaurants (including an excellent Thai), 2 gun clubs, direct flights to Auckland from Masterton, beaches at Castlepoint and Riversdale, Wharekauhau for civilised dining, superb climate and all a short distance from Wellington.

If I were you I would buy based on what works for you rather than what the property market might do - I have come to the conclusion that works better here as an approach, rather than the investment opportunity basis that we were more used to in the UK.

Keeping a weather eye on eventual resale is of course wise, but I think it just works better here to not make that the number one consideration (within reason, of course!).

[Arwen]

If I were you I would buy based on what works for you rather than what the property market might do - I have come to the conclusion that works better here as an approach, rather than the investment opportunity basis that we were more used to in the UK.

I agree with all the points you have made about the Wairarapa Mr Mac. If I could move there tomorrow, I would. Maybe one day.........

Also I think the quote above is absolutely key too. When hubby and I first arrived we were looking at land/property for investment purposes as we would have done in the UK, but as you have pointed out it's not quite the same ball game. It is definitely wiser to buy something that works for you personally, in a place where you feel you can settle well.

[doreysc]

Well, there will be a number of factors IMV.

1) Kiwis seem to regard any commute longer than 15 minutes as too long - whereas those of us from the UK have lived with 1hr plus commutes for years!

Some research a few years ago showed that in the UK people would commute up to 100 minutes each way on a daily basis, and at the time Harrogate was one of the most expensive places to live outside of London because it was a 100 minute commute from London and the City workers had pushed the prices up.

I did a 90 mile, 90 minute commute for some years but that was on good rural roads with little traffic if you timed it to miss rush hours and school runs. Definitely do not want to repeat that again, my fuel bill was bigger than my mortgage and diesel was only 80 odd pence a litre then. I was spending 2 1/2 days every month on the road - that is 30 plus days a year - a whole month of my life every year behind the wheel!

Having experienced the Auckland rush hour last Friday on the way to the airport I reckon 90 minutes should get me about 9km - very different from the Easter weekend when we were often the only car on the road in the CBD and definitely a factor we will take into account when determining where to live.

Simon

[zeke]

Ah, I'd happily adjust my viewpoint to consider a >15 minute commute 'too long'. I used to commute 2 hours each way in the SF bay area. I'll not do that again willingly.

Simon - like you, at one point I did the math on how much of my life I was going to spend in transit, and it really depressed me. Right now I spend a little under 2 hours/day in transit (all on buses/trolleys), which is a lot better, but when you work it out, still more of your life than you should spend just going back and forth to the same place! At least now I work from home 2-3 days/week, which makes quite a difference.

KiwiMac - so how much are property prices in Wairarapa are driven by 'weekendender' home owners who come up from the city when they have time but don't live there year-around? Where we used to live north of San Francisco the prices were very much set by this market.

zeke

[gonzo]

Kiwi Mac thanks for the thoughtful informative and in depth response,as a somewhat early retiree with no established social network (although I have a few friends in Wellington and my children are at university in Auckland and Dunedin) I am wondering if the Wairapa might be slightly isolated for me my main interest is golf which is why I am veering between the Kapiti coast Pram or Waikanae or Tauranga but the information you provided has been of great help-thanks again

[Kiwi Mac]

Kiwi Mac thanks for the thoughtful informative and in depth response,as a somewhat early retiree with no established social network (although I have a few friends in Wellington and my children are at university in Auckland and Dunedin) I am wondering if the Wairapa might be slightly isolated for me my main interest is golf which is why I am veering between the Kapiti coast Pram or Waikanae or Tauranga but the information you provided has been of great help-thanks again

I live right next door (literally!) to the excellent Martinborough Golf Course.

Beautiful course with vineyards opposite! I'm not a golfer and aside from Kauri Cliffs and Michael "Ratner" Hill's place I don't know of any notable courses, but the one next door looks lovely and I'm told it is a nice club to belong to.

[Kiwi Mac]

Ah, I'd happily adjust my viewpoint to consider a >15 minute commute 'too long'. I used to commute 2 hours each way in the SF bay area. I'll not do that again willingly.

Simon - like you, at one point I did the math on how much of my life I was going to spend in transit, and it really depressed me. Right now I spend a little under 2 hours/day in transit (all on buses/trolleys), which is a lot better, but when you work it out, still more of your life than you should spend just going back and forth to the same place! At least now I work from home 2-3 days/week, which makes quite a difference.

KiwiMac - so how much are property prices in Wairarapa are driven by 'weekendender' home owners who come up from the city when they have time but don't live there year-around? Where we used to live north of San Francisco the prices were very much set by this market.

zeke

More than 50% probably. There are quite a few Wellington workers here - some in very highly paid jobs (my neighbour on one side probably trousers the thick end of $1 million a year and the one on the other side got a $4.5 million severance package from his post as Finance Director, I believe!) but they usually have pads in Wellington for during the week.

There's a regular cadre of daily bus/train commuters and 3 train loads of people every weekday so it is becoming a little more like a suburb slowly. Of course, modern trains would cut the commute by 50% and that would see prices rocket for property, but there's little danger of modern trains in my lifetime I suspect.

Martinborough is full of weekender cottages and B&Bs. Of course some normal workers live here also, but salary levels here are way down on the Wellington market for anyone looking for serious money: anything over $60,000 a year is going to be very hard indeed to get over this side of the hill.