The home building industry around Nelson and Tasman is “pumping”, with many building companies taking on extra staff to keep up with demand and prospective buyers willing to wait more than 12 months before they can move into their new homes.
“There’re not enough hours in the day, or days in week, to keep up,” Milestone Homes Nelson Bays regional manager Adam Hills says. “I’ve been with Milestone for seven years and I’ve never known anything like it – the industry is absolutely pumping.”
Adam says Milestone presently has “15 houses under contract” and has just employed another five builders to keep up with the demand. He says many buyers are signing contracts for new homes on subdivisions that are still being developed and haven’t got titles, and as a result have to wait up to a year or more to move in.
Simon Collett of Home Living Solutions says they are presently developing six subdivisions for over 150 new homes in Nelson and Tasman and they are “pre-selling everything”. Home Living Solutions manages the complete home building process from land development through to design and build.
“People are grabbing sections and waiting 12 months. We are selling sections that won’t even have a title by Christmas.”
Adam and Simon both say the demand for new homes is a direct result of the housing market being put under pressure by people moving into Nelson from the bigger centres. Adam says the gap between the price of old and new homes is also narrowing, making new homes a more affordable option.
GJ Gardner Homes Nelson-Tasman franchise owner Graham Vercoe says they have been “very busy” since early to mid-last year when demand for new homes started increasing.
“I don’t think we are in a boom but we very busy,” Graham says. “What we are seeing is related immigration and a flow out of the some of the larger centres where it is less affordable to build a house.”
“We have 30 homes under construction and are on track to build about 62 homes this year. But that’s well within the capacity of the company because we have very good contractors and suppliers.”
Simon says the buoyant new home market is good news for the region, employing hundreds of tradespeople and suppliers.
“I went out to our Langdale Grove subdivision the other day and there were tradies’ vehicles double-parked everywhere. I’d hate to think how many people are working on new homes around the region.”
