



STUFF Alan Maxwell of the Wairarapa Whanau Trust has helped make a big difference in Featherston young people's lives.

What were once seen as big city property prices are putting the squeeze on locals in some small New Zealand towns.

While the average house price in New Zealand has increased by a healthy 44 per cent in the last five years, in some areas the growth has been double that, according to Quotable Value.

Places that were languishing on the bottom tier of the housing ladder like Featherston, in Wairarapa, and Kawerau, in Bay of Plenty, have experienced stratospheric gains and some are feeling the strain.

Featherston's median property value was up by 108 per cent over the past five years and Kawerau's experienced a whopping 158 per cent gain.

PIERS FULLER/STUFF Demand for property in Featherston has skyrocketed in recent years.

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Featherston resident Shauni Watene grew up in the town but now finds it unaffordable.

"My partner and I have been saving for the past three years and with KiwiSaver and Housing NZ grants we are still unable to buy or build a home.

She said anything for sale in town for under $400,000 needs a lot of work. "Or is close to unliveable or it's not big enough to have our flatmate join us to help service a mortgage."

She said the rental situation is also hard.

"The average rent around here seems to be $390 plus. It's disgusting seeing as this is only a small town with small businesses and if you're hired locally this rent would be more than half of your wages."

Waipukurau in Central Hawke's Bay rose by 90 per cent, and Levin's housing almost doubled its value with 96 per cent gain over that period.

Tokoroa in South Waikato netted a 110 per cent gain on average.

These are in contrast to the biggest cities, which all had mixed results since 2014 mainly because they had enjoyed steady growth over the previous five years.

Since November 2014 Wellington City's average house price has gone up 56 per cent, Auckland's by 36 per cent and Christchurch's by just 7 per cent.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Kawerau's house prices are 158 per cent higher than they were five years ago.

Featherston was typical of the small towns that started from a low base and have felt the flow-on effects of big city price gains.

Senior property economist Kelvin Davidson of analyst firm CoreLogic said that Featherston's rise was a result of many factors.

"The commute to Wellington is definitely a factor in its favour, with people with city jobs able to work from home some days and live outside the city."

Between the 2013 and 2018 Censuses its population rose by 11 per cent, which is in line with the national average.

"But arguably a bit more impressive given that Featherston probably won't have had a proportionate share of net migration."

"So its growth will have been driven by domestic change," Davidson said.

PIERS FULLER/STUFF Thomas and Makere Sargent with two of their children Tane and May in their Featherston home.

Featherston homeowner Thomas Sargent bought his first house for $86,000 15 years ago when he was 21-years-old and bought another one last December for $330,000.

He puts the rises down to pressure from big cities.

"Auckland has become too expensive for people so people have shifted from Auckland to Wellington. They've pushed the market up over in Wellington. The people who can no longer afford to buy over there are coming over this way."

Rents have also be affected by this drift.

Sargent reckons five or six years ago, Featherston landlords would struggle to find tenants for a average house with a rent of $140.

Now, the same property might command close to $400 and have up to 70 applicants vying for the tenancy.