October 2018 saw a huge spike in sales, with a total of 140 rural and residential sales in the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand statistics and a gross sales value of more than $90 million.

Forty houses/apartments sold over the month, with prices starting at $179,000 for a 31m2 studio apartment at The Resort (formerly known as Benbrae, Cardrona), and going through to $3.18m for a lodge on the outskirts of town.

First National’s Lynette Winsloe said in Wanaka itself, a two-bedroom apartment at Oakridge sold for $355,000. “This high sale - $200k more than the last sale in December last year - was attributed to the apartment being out of the management pool.”

Albert Town is proving a particularly popular choice with buyers, Lynette said, and there were seven house sales in the township last month, priced from $588,000 through to $790,000. “We are fielding a lot of enquiries for this area,” she said.

A large development site of 1313m2 sold in Lismore St last month for $2.4m. “Overlooking the lake and zoned high density, it will be interesting to see what happens on this site in the future,” Lynette said.

One of the things contributing to the large number of sales was a hefty 91 sales in the Northlake development. “This has created a big spike in the sales graph,” Lynette said. “If we set the Northlake sales aside, we are left with 49 ‘regular’ sales, most of which are houses and apartments.”

October 2018 was miles away from the same month the previous year, where there were just 32 sales. These were seven sections and 25 houses, with a total dollar value of $38 million.

This October also saw a general increase in listings, which Lynette said is positive for the month. “Previously, vendors have been holding back from putting their property on the market due to lack of alternatives to view, however this might change now with the increase of new listings,” she said.

“Purchasers are taking longer before they make a decision which makes the negotiation period longer. Hopefully, November will continue to see plenty of new properties being listed on the market.”

PHOTO: Supplied