Kaiapoi housing market is alive and well

Press, 15 July 1982, Page 12

Kaiapoi housing market is alive and well

In Residence

Patricia Herbert

PROPERTY REPORTER

The closing of the Kaiapoi woollen mill in 1978 made the town’s future look bleak. The pessimists thought that it might become the South Island equivalent of Eketahuna: dead. Some of the mill-workers moved to Dunedin and Mosgiel. There was a reduction in the spending power of the average household because many of the mill’s employees had been married, women who worked to provide their families with a second income. The effect on the property market was to create an ovesupply of houses and to depress demand. But Mr Ross Caklerwell, of the Valuation Department, says that this was just "a hiccup” and that, by an, large, land and property values in Kaiapoi have mirrored national fluctuations. • “There was a period whenhouses were pretty hard to sell, which might have been due to the lack of job opportunities. It was also a period of fairly severe financial restraints in the mortgage market, which dampened sales throughout the country,” he says. The effect of the winding down and eventual closure of the mill was cushioned by the building of the motorway; the improvement of the town’s amenities which made it a more attractive place to

n live; the expansion of the “ freezing works and other 1 small-scale light industries; r and the high demand for sections throughout the country in the mid-19705. r This was reflected in Kaiapoi. and nationally, by an ;• increase of more than '3OO per cent in land values from r 1972 to . 1977, says Mr Cal- ‘ derwell. ’ The most recent valuation (1981) — again in conformity , - with the national trend — shows a decrease in land values in the town of 11 per . cent, but an increase in the value of improvements of almost 36 per cent, attributable largely to the effects of inflation and rising building costs, he says. Kaiapoi is also experiencing a modest growth rate — two and a half per cent each year. With a population of about 5000, this represents a net increase of 125 people yearly, or more than two people for each household. This expansion is expected to continue —. not by leaps and bounds, but steadily. The Regional Planning Authority, for example, estimates that

the population will have more than doubled by the year 2000. A Placemakers’ outlet was opened. in the main street earlier this month, an indication that, the Fletcher Group of Companies also has confidence in the town's prospects. The growth rate is largely a result of Kaiapoi becoming a dormitory suburb. The borough clerk, Mr R. N. McCabe, says that about haalf of the Kaiapoi workforce are employed elsewhere — mostly in Christchurch. They are attracted to the town because it is close to the employment and entertainment advantages of the city but remote enough to escape its disadvantages; the smog, the noise, and the crime rate. It is convenient to the countryside, the beaches and the Waimakariri River. The local real estate agent has 26 houses advertised for sale in the township. He is reluctant to compare the property market in Kaia-

poi with that in Christchurch because he is unfamiliar with the city scene. The number of houses offered for auction does provide some indication of the buoyancy of property markets; it is used more often as a sales method when demand is high, less often when it is low. The number of residential auctions in Kaiapoi over recent months has remained fairly steady, while it has slumped in the city. The Kaiapoi real estate agent sells mostly to first home buyers. This is because they can expect to pay $5OOO to $lO,OOO less for a house in Kaiapoi than -for the same property in Hornby or Bishopdale, he says. A family-style Summerhill stone .house which would fetch between $50,000 and $60,000 in the city, for example, sells for between $40,000 and $45,000 in Kaiapoi he points out.

Another feature commending the town to young couples is that it is wellsupplied with schools. It has a high school, two state primary schools' and a convent. two kindergartens and a -play centre. Since the closing of the woollen mill and the fellmongery, the nature of the township has changed. “Kaipoi was always underestimated because of its in- ' dustrial base."

But, with the departure of heavy industry, its environment has become more acceptable to the commuter. One effect has been to reduce the pollution levels so that the river is cleaner and the environment healthier, he says. The movement to the towmship is reflected in the amount of residential building activity in the area. Almost 130 permits have been issued for new dwellings during the past four years. Enterprise Homes Ltd is putting up about 30 houses a year in its Golden Grove subdivision.

A spokesman for the com>anv savs that the properties

are “selling quite steadily" because the land prices are lower than in Christchurch, which means' that people can afford to buy more expensive homes.

The real estate agent also observes that there have been changes in the style of houses being built in Kaiapoi in the past two years.

“There is more variation and they are larger," he says.

When it was a mill town, most of the homes were fairly modest, with one or two more imposing ones which belonged to the mill managers, he explains. But the ” arrival of the commuters has. created a more affluent, middle-class population.