Selling your home is one of the biggest decisions you will make. Whether you’re looking to upgrade from your first home due to a growing family or you’re looking to downsize, every homeowner is looking for the best possible price when selling their home.

Buyers are more educated about purchasing property than ever before. In this day and age, and with the internet only a swipe or click away, expert information is at their fingertips. This can be a blessing to many vendors, as an educated buyer may decide very quickly whether they want to view your home or not. But this readily available information can raise the stakes when it comes to the buyer’s expectations. If your home is poorly presented, you have ineffective marketing or poor-quality photos, this could result in cheap offers and a long sale timeframe. If your potential audience is online and your real estate agent or salesperson isn’t digitally savvy then you could be missing out on the perfect buyer. Taranaki is amid a housing shortage, which may seem like a great opportunity for a seller such as yourself, but can mean a missed opportunity if your home isn’t presented to maximise the bidding war and earn you the best price possible.

So what do you need to know if you are thinking of selling your home in Taranaki? In this blog we outline what the market is doing in Taranaki, identify what your property may be worth and how to decide when the right time is to sell. So let’s dive in.

What is the market doing in Taranaki?

May 2020 saw an all-time high in the average asking price for a home in Taranaki. Currently sitting at an average asking price of $504,887 according to realestate.co.nz, this is 16.3% up on May 2019, which saw an asking price of $433,977. This is great news for those who are looking to sell their home but also puts pressure on vendors to leverage this unique opportunity, while it lasts.

As we come into the tail-end of our country’s lockdown, and with interest rates at an all-time low, there are more buyers in Taranaki than ever before, with fewer houses on the market. 

In the May NZ Property Report the property website realestate.co.nz identified that Taranaki had seen a 16.8% reduction in the number of properties listed versus May 2019, yet the asking price for those properties had increased by 16.3%. The stock levels for housing had dropped with the region down by 38.8%, the lowest of the nation.

Compare that to the former boom-town region of Central Otago/Lakes where values had dropped by 3.7%, listings had increased by 21.8% and housing stock had increased by 13%.

In summary, with supply at an all-time low and demand higher than ever a house sale now will command a much better price than this time last year.

What is your property worth?

Finding out how much your home is worth can be an exciting and daunting experience, especially if your expectations don’t match up to the reality of the market! There are a number of different ways to find out the value of your property, with some offering a higher degree of accuracy than others. 

Our residential sales team are finding more and more prospective vendors talking to them about free online property valuations, often through well-known websites and some requiring only a form submission to get an assessment. These are great for people to get an idea of the value of their home, however, these online platforms should only be treated as a guide. Websites such as qv.co.nz and trademe.co.nz offer detailed information on properties such as their rateable value throughout Taranaki, including previous sale prices. They work by using publicly available information on your area, such as similar house sales and land values, to estimate the value of your property.

Even though these online websites give you a great indication of the value of your home, McDonald Real Estate General Manager Daniel McDonald, says they are actually causing quite a lot of confusion in the market.  He says: “It’s scary to think that some vendors are basing the value of their biggest asset on a calculation made without an expert setting foot on their property or considering the unique features of the home which haven’t been taken into account with the online valuations. The problem with calculating house values and using algorithms alone is that they cannot account for human emotion, which is a massive part of the house buying process.” 

It is important to remember that online valuations can’t give you the insights a trained and experienced agent or salesperson can. While the online valuation tool gives a rough estimate it can often be misleading. A property might be particularly fashionable with a group of buyers right now, which might help it to achieve a much higher price. There may be features that buyers are seeking that a computer program cannot determine so while using them to get a rough idea can be good you’ll only get an accurate picture by having a professional assessment.

When is a good time to sell?

One of the big questions we get asked a lot is if there is a right or wrong time to sell? There is a myth that summer is the best time to sell a property and while images may look better in the brightness of summer, and the outdoor area might become a focal point, the truth is that there are buyers around 365 days of the year. In fact, buyers are not as seasonal as sellers think they are. 

It’s worth remembering that during popular seasons there are likely to be more properties on the market, therefore the competition is a lot higher. This is where selling your home outside the popular seasons could have its benefits. A good time to sell is when stock levels never quite match up to buyer demand. This is where a real estate agent or salesperson can offer expert and up to date advice within your area. 

How does the market differ across Taranaki?

Taranaki, as a region, is lucky in that there is a wide selection of regional median pricing, with some areas being known for offering more focus on affordable housing, while others offer more premium homes. 

This is where McDonald Real Estate stands out from the rest. While other companies leave the small district centres alone and try to service them from New Plymouth, McDonald Real Estate aims to be part of the individual communities within Taranaki. Having offices right around the mountain we believe this keeps us in touch with you, the people of Taranaki, and the local market. It also ensures that we have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening with potential buyers. In fact, McDonald Real Estate’s Head Office in Stratford has been in the same building since the early 1920s! This commitment shows that we take pride in the region, occupying the best sites in each centre, and people know where to find us when needed.

In this day and age, while a digital presence is important we are the only local real estate company within Taranaki to have a physical office in almost every township in Taranaki.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, our ‘Ultimate Guide to Selling a House in Taranaki’ is filled with everything you need to know. From deciphering real estate terminology, an in-depth analysis on when the best time to sell your home is, the sales process, marketing and tips on preparing your home for sale. Download it today by clicking on the following link.