REPLICA HISTORIC VILLAGE OPENS DOORS TO APPLE FAIR

A free Apple Fair drew hundreds to a small replica historic village outside Wakefield yesterday. Willow Bank Heritage Village is run by a family trust headed by Christine Grieder. She said the response to the second fair held amid restored historic buildings, often saved from demolition, drew an ‘‘overwhelmingly good response’’. Willow Bank is not open to the public at this stage, but Grieder said in the future its gates may be swung aside so people can catch an occasional glimpse of the region’s past.

BANK LANE SET FOR REVAMP

Nelson’s Bank Lane looks set for a refurbishment, along with office spaces in the former Mid City Motor Lodge building, says syndicate property manager David Penrose. Property owners of the building at 218 Trafalgar St, which is located in Bank Lane, are working with the Nelson City Council to refurbish the lane that joins Trafalgar St and Montgomery Square, but Penrose said a time frame had not been confirmed.

Mid City Motor Lodge closed last year after its lease ended. Penrose said the building was fully occupied apart from office spaces on the first and third floors where tenants were actively being sought by the property owners. Options for the motel lease were also being considered by the owners.

FRUSTRATION OVER RULES THWARTING 'BIONIC' BURNER

Nelson City Council is not serving its residents well and frustration over woodburner regulations are more than justified, says the director of a high-tech energy company. Envirosolve director Rene Haeberli has just been given resource consent by Environment Canterbury for a Danish ultra-low emission woodburner called the bionic fire. But he said Nelson’s inflexible rules were posing a major problem in getting the woodburners into homes here.

Haeberli said it was a long process to bring the emissions levels down to 0.49 grams of particulate matter per kilogram of fuel burned, which is required to meet Canterbury’s clean requirements. The fire costs $7870, with the cost of installation on top of that. Six had already been sold in Canterbury.  Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said she had sought legal advice on whether local regulations could be adjusted to allow its installation in Nelson homes. Reese said she needed to find out if the Environment Court would allow the council to adjust the law so the burners could be added to its approved list.

The legal inquiries were happening in tandem with a review of the Nelson air quality plan, but she expected the results much sooner than the completion of the review, scheduled for 2016 or 2017.

FUTURE OF PROPERTY HINGES ON GREY DOLLAR

The power of the ‘‘grey dollar’’ is one of the major factors that will influence the future price of property, a report by commercial property company RCG says.  RCG has produced a ‘‘cheat sheet’’ for property investors which attempts to forecast the implications of everything from the power of baby boomers’ ‘‘grey dollars’’ to the future impact of increased overseas investment and growing international visitor numbers.

Baby boomers, who are usually defined as being born between 1946 and 1965, earn $40 billion, or 35 per cent of the country’s income, and control close to 45 per cent of national wealth. They make up 25 per cent of the population and more than 71 per cent own their home. Growth in international investment would continue to push property prices up. New Zealand’s property returns were high and less risky by overseas standards, the report said. RCG said now was a good time to build apartments and terraced housing, as baby boomers looked to downsize their properties and young adults had fewer children.

RICHMOND HOUSE SALES ON THE RISE

The Richmond housing market is reflecting fast development in the area, the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (Reinz) statistics show. Its statistics for March show that 32 homes were purchased in Richmond last month – a 52.4 per cent increase on the 21 homes bought in March last year, and a 39.1 per cent increase on the 23 homes bought in February 2015.

Reinz Nelson spokesman Darryl Marshall said the number of days to sell had also dramatically decreased, from 55 in March 2014 to 26 in March 2015. Despite Richmond’s median price taking a tumble, from $460,000 in February to $432,500 in March – which was also down from $453,000 in March last year – Marshall said the market remained ‘‘very positive’’. ‘‘February’s median was the highest it’s ever been. It’s still certainly positive in Richmond.’’ Meanwhile, Motueka saw nearly double the number of homes sold last month compared to February, with an 86.7 per cent rise.

CONFIDENCE EASES AS CONSTRUCTION PEAKS

There are signs that growth in construction activity had peaked, according to the latest NZIER business survey, with a smaller net percentage of firms reporting increased output in the past quarter. Business confidence is easing slightly but still points to economic growth of just more than 3 per cent a year. The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business opinion shows that general business confidence eased from a net 22 per cent positive in the December quarter to 20 per cent in the March quarter.

NZIER said a pickup in house sales was likely to explain a large part of the increased activity, as mortgage lending competition heated up from late last year.  NZIER itself is not expecting a rate rise until late next year, and the consensus opinion among forecasters generally is for no increase in Reserve Bank rates this year or next.

FLORA HUT MAKEOVER A TRIBUTE

The popular Flora Hut in Kahurangi National Park has received a makeover by the Nelson Tramping Club that not only makes it warmer but is a lasting tribute to Nelson tramper Ruth Hesselyn. Club president Lawrie Halkett said Flora Hut had been the first hut the club had stayed overnight in about 80 years ago. The first work the club did in the memorial project was in 2013, renovating the project.

The club received a $6500 grant for materials and other costs for the Flora Hut work from the New Zealand Outdoor Recreation Consortium. The grant came from $700,000 allocated from the government Community Conservation Partnership Fund to the consortium last year to help maintain and enhance backcountry huts and tracks on conservation land.
(The Nelson Mail Wednesday, April 15, 2015)

SENIORS OPTING FOR VILLAGE LIFE

An increasing number of seniors are living in retirement villages in the Nelson region. A new report shows 14 per cent of the region’s population aged over 75 choosing to live in a retirement village in the region, ahead of the national average at 12 per cent. Retirement Villages Association (RVA) executive director John Collyns said the statistics, which came from a report by Jones Lang Salle, showed 995 New Zealanders aged over 75 chose to live in a retirement village in the Nelson region, and the number is growing.

‘‘[Nelson] compares favourably to other places in New Zealand, there is an older population here and because of the higher level we actually have to perform,’’ he said. The RVA has recorded steady growth over the last two years. In 2014 capital value increased from $9 billion to $10b. The Nelson region, which has 11 RVA registered retirement villages contributes $173 million to that number.

DEBT FOR DAM TOPS $4M IN PLANNING

The Tasman District Council will face between about $4 million and $5m of debt developing the Waimea Community Dam to the point of making the final go/no-go decision on the project.  District councillors at Thursday’s meeting heard that to the end of December total expenditure on the project had been $5.92m, most of which had been cash-funded through grants and support.

In his report to the meeting, chief executive Lindsay McKenzie said it was estimated that loan-funded council expenditure would rise to between $4m and $5m by the time a final decision was made on the dam’s construction. The spend was within the council’s $25m budget allocated for the $74m dam in the council’s current draft Long Term Plan (2015-25).

HOME START ROAD SHOW IS IN TOWN

Housing Minister Nick Smith will front a roadshow presentation to Nelson on the Government’s new HomeStart package which came into effect earlier this month. Smith will present the information in Nelson tonight at the Rutherford Hotel in the Waimea Room at 7pm. The event is open to the public.

The package will double the grants available from the Government and enable greater withdrawals from KiwiSaver for buying a home. If a couple contributes to KiwiSaver for five years the HomeStart grant allows them $10,000 for an existing home and $20,0000 for a new home. ‘‘[The package] is part of the Government’s plan to reverse the long-term decline in home ownership,’’ said Smith.

He will be joined by the Commission for Financial Capability and Housing New Zealand, which administers the HomeStart and Welcome Home Loan schemes, at the roadshow.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Duke & Cooke Property News is a clipping service publication compiled by Duke & Cooke Ltd, valuation and property specialists. The information contained within this newssheet are excerpts of property-related articles from current local news sources. Full attribution is given for the source of the extracts in order that the reader may refer to the source articles for full information. As this publication is a clipping service only, the articles included do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Duke & Cooke, and these items are included impartially and objectively. No responsibility is held for any parties relying on the accuracy of this information without obtaining independent verification. To contact us regarding circulation of this service phone +64 35489104 or e-mail: propertynews@valuersnelson.co.nz