Duke & Cooke Property News
Property News from the Nelson Tasman Region

Published on: 13th December 2008

HOUSE PRICES CONTINUE TO DROP
GREEN GATE QUITS OFFSHORE PROSPECTS
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW FOR SKIFIELD
SECOND MAPUA REPORT CONFIRMS MFE MISTAKES
NEW BARBIE AREA AT BEACH A RESULT OF YOUTHS’ VISIO
HOPE AHEAD FOR RIDGEWAY SALES: CHAIRMAN
BIG PLANS FOR FOUNDERS
CHILDCARE PLAN GOES TO COUNCILLORS
LODGE PAYS OUT
PROPERTY WATCH

HOUSE PRICES CONTINUE TO DROP

House prices in the Nelson region continue to ease, but the market is still recording smaller losses than many other parts of the country. Nelson property values dropped 6.2 per cent in the 12 months to November compared with a year ago. This was greater than the 4.9 per cent drop recorded in October. In Tasman, property values dropped 4 per cent further than the 2.8 per cent drop recorded in October. The average sale price in Tasman in November was $347,781, up $1 from October’s average sale price of $347,780. Quotable Value spokesman Blue Hancock said sales at the upper end of the Nelson market saw the city’s average sale price lift to $346,580 in November, from $335,398 in October.

(The Nelson Mail, Monday 8 December 2008)
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GREEN GATE QUITS OFFSHORE PROSPECTS

Nelson-based oil explorer Green Gate Ltd is abandoning some offshore parts of its prospects after a strategic review in the wake of collapsing oil prices and “disordered” equity markets. Green Gate has relinquished prospects in Solander Basin, the Canterbury Basin and the offshore portion of a Canterbury prospect.

(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday 9 December 2008)
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SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW FOR SKIFIELD

Five years after taking control of Rainbow skifield, the group responsible has settled $300,000 of contributions that kept the club running and is now looking to the future. The Rainbow Sports Club recently held an event to mark five years of continuous operation and to thank those who helped keep the ski area open. Spokesman Hamish Neill said the night was a celebration. “We have shown and established that we can operate from year to year and we can do this without public debt and without bank debt.”

(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday 10 December 2008)
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SECOND MAPUA REPORT CONFIRMS MFE MISTAKES

An independent report has confirmed the Environment Ministry made mistakes in the way it handled the cleanup of the Mapua contaminated site. A report by Australian environmental expert Paul Bell says the ministry didn’t have good project and financial management systems in place during the cleanup, and did not comply with resource consents around marine sediment. Mr Bell said the ministry also did not deal effectively with conflicts of interest that came up in the $12 million experimental cleanup of the former Fruitgrowers’ Chemical Factory site, previous tagged the most contaminated land in New Zealand. The report was commissioned by the Environment Ministry’s chief executive, Paul Reynolds, in response to concerns raised by the parliamentary commissioner for the environment in her report released in July.

(The Nelson Mail, Thursday 11 December 2008)
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NEW BARBIE AREA AT BEACH A RESULT OF YOUTHS’ VISIO

A new barbecue area at Tahunanui Beach, developed by Nelson youth councillors as a community project, is now open to the public. The barbecue area between the Beach Café and Lions playground was opened yesterday and is the result of more than a year of planning by the Nelson Youth Council and the Nelson City Council. Four electric barbecues make up the centrepiece of the area, with a seating area constructed of recycled beams. Recycled wharf piles support a shade structure over the area.

(The Nelson Mail, Thursday 11 December 2008)
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HOPE AHEAD FOR RIDGEWAY SALES: CHAIRMAN

Sales of the sections in the Ridgeway subdivision remain static, but there is hope on the horizon, joint venture chairman Seddon Marshall said. Mr Marshall told the Nelson City Council governance committee yesterday that despite slow property sales at present, he refused to accept what the doomsayers were predicting for the economy. Recent moves to lower interest rates, and the lowered kiwi against the United States and British currencies would all help to generate increased interest in property, he believed. The Stoke Heights subdivision joint venture, in which the city council is a partner, has yet to sell 27 sections in the 220-section subdivision, plus another that has a show home on it. Seven sales were forecast for 2008. The other partner in the 50-50 joint venture is Homedale Holdings Ltd. Council chief financial officer Chris Fitchett said the long-term cumulative benefit was what mattered, rather than the annual effect, but the recent drop in property prices would likely mean a reduction in the forecast $8.6 million final surplus.

(The Nelson Mail, Friday 12 December 2008)
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BIG PLANS FOR FOUNDERS

A blueprint for Founders Heritage Park in Nelson contains ambitious plans for growth, starting with a $400,000 loan request to kick-start the first stage. The long-term plan, which was last updated in October, seeks to maximise the use of Founders’ green spaces and then gradually add more buildings to house such things as a planned seabird museum, a railway cottage showing how railway workers once lived, a stationmaster’s cottage, and a dedicated building for community and hobby groups. The wishlist, which has been drawn up with input from the park’s curator Boyd Chester-Freeman, also includes ideas to extend the number of working tradespeople at the park, such as a saddler, a butcher, a tailor and milner, a weaver, a barber, a cobbler and a shipwright.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 13 December 2008)
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CHILDCARE PLAN GOES TO COUNCILLORS

Nelson city councillors are scheduled to meet on Monday to consider a controversial plan for establishing an early childcare centre near the Nelson Botanical Reserve. A Nelson City Council planner has recommended the application by SVS Land to construct a centre catering for up to 75 children on Hardy St East should be allowed to proceed subject to numerous conditions.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 13 December 2008)
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LODGE PAYS OUT

About 1000 members of the Manchester Unity Friendly Society’s Nelson lodge are set to get a cash payment from last year’s sale of the UFS Dispensary and buildings in Hardy St. Nelson lodge secretary Kevin Elliott said it received $1.06 million from the sale by a group of Nelson friendly societies. “The value in the UFS had been built up over several decades of ownership by the friendly societies and the Nelson lodge made a decision to pay out the proceeds to members based on the number of completed years of membership of Manchester Unity.” Longest-serving members – those who had been with the lodge for more than 70 years – would receive just under $3900, he said.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 13 December 2008)
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PROPERTY WATCH

Franklyn, H & J Smith sales
Mortgagee sales on the former Franklyn Hall nurses home in Waimea Rd and former H & J Smith Building in Bridge St have all but come to fruition. Colliers International Nelson managing director Tony Gowans said both buildings attracted competing interest. Franklyn Hall has a conditional sale agreement in place which is due to go unconditional next week and there’s a back-up contract if it falls through. Meanwhile, the H & J Smith building has sold to a local investor for an undisclosed sum. Its GV is $4 million. Mr Gowans said the sale took some time to conclude because there were various loose ends and legalities to sort through. The new owner doesn’t have any specific plans for the building, other than to find an additional tenant for the top floor, he said.
Boom buyers reap losses
The property downturn appears to be costing some homeowners many thousands of dollars. Quotable Value records show a home at 5 Richardson St, Nelson, which was bought in 2005 for $2 million resold in August this year for $1.75 million. A section at 24 Commodore Place, Tasman Heights, was bought for $215,000 in 2004 and sold in May for $172,500, and 74 Newman Close sold for $575,000 in 2005 and resold in August for $515,000. Another property at 21 Dorothy Annie Way, off Cleveland Terrace, has a GV of $910,000 but sold in June for $720,000. In 2001 it sold for $482,000.
Motueka café bought at last
Up the Garden Path Café and Gallery in Motueka has been sold to out-of-town buyers after more than a year on the market. Bayleys agent Reece Forbes had the 2702-squre-metre property with four-bedroom home, café and art gallery in High St listed for $985,000, as a freehold going concern. He confirmed that a sale, brokered by Bayleys Motueka agent Jan Long and Tania Wilkins, went unconditional this week, with the new owners due to take over on February 16. The property sold for $650,000 but the business price remains confidential. Mrs Long said the new owners were experienced in hospitality and had artistic interests.
Quick sales in lower bracket
A three-bedroom home in Toi Toi St, Nelson, sold within four days through Summit agent Mark Rumsey. “We didn’t even have the first open home.” The property was priced at offers over $245,000 and sold to a client from the firm’s database. Its GV is $220,000. Mr Rumsey declined to reveal the sale price but said the vendor was happy. He has also sold a yet-to-be-built two-bedroom townhouse in Roseke St, Richmond, to an Invercargill buyer for “pretty much at asking price” of $385,000.
City fruit and vege shops
Two new fruit and vegetable shops are opening in Nelson next week. Nick and Bettina Romano purchased a building across the road from Trafalgar Park about a year ago without having any firm plans for it. Mr Romano, a third-generation member of the Romano family which sold produce from the Wood area for many years, already sells produce at the Nelson Farmer’s Market. The shop, called Romano’s Park Store Fruit and Vege, will open on Monday. The Stoke Fruit and Veg store owners are also opening a new shop in Nelson’s Montgomery Square next week.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 13 December 2008)
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This publication is compiled by Duke & Cooke Ltd, valuation and property specialists. The information contained within this newssheet has been obtained from various local sources and no responsibility is held for any parties relying on the accuracy of this information without obtaining independent verification.

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