Nelson Weekly
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wednesday 14 november 2018
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The Worboys family - from left, Ned, Hugo (6 months), Ollie (2) and Rachael. Photo: Kate Russell.
Priced out and ‘exhausted’
The Nelson property market is proving a hard nut to crack for wannabe homeowners, with the average asking price reaching $642,298. Reporter Kate Russell investigates how first-home buyers are faring.
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Ned and Rachael Worboys uprooted their life in Wellington close to family and moved to Nelson in January, in hope of being able to buy their first home to raise their two young sons. Nearly one year and 30 house viewings later, they are still searching. “We couldn’t afford to buy in Wel-
lington and Nelson just seemed like the most brilliant idea,” says Rachael, a stay-at-home mum. The young family started looking at houses here before they even moved and “browsed the internet” for listings a year prior to that. They are considering properties in the low to mid 400s all over the
region, with a healthy deposit and their parents as guarantors. “We just keep getting priced out and finding that houses are being sold for $40,000 - $50,000 over the asking price,” says Rachael. A two-bedroom house in Toi Toi that the family viewed recently sold for 75 percent over its RV with 34 interested buyers
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through. “Also, a lot of houses aren’t in very good shape and would need immediate work - but we wouldn’t have any money left over for that.” So far, the only realistic option has been a home with 42 years’ worth of smoke damage.
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