St Clair makes million-dollar suburb list for first time

This Cliffs Rd residence in St Clair is on the market. The Dunedin suburb has joined the million-dollar club. Photo: supplied

Dunedin's St Clair has sneaked into the million-dollar suburb category, but Queenstown still dominates the Otago millionaire’s market.

Real estate agent Ray White has released its breakdown of suburbs by median house price this week.

It showed Dunedin had only two suburbs where the median house price was over $1 million — St Clair and East Taieri.

This is the first time St Clair has entered the category, while East Taieri is the suburb with the highest growth rate in the city; showing 13.51% average growth over the past five years.

Ray White principal agent for Dunedin Peter McCrea said the results were not so surprising for the city, especially not St Clair.

"The area is obviously a good, high value area so it’s a good spot to be.

"People pay more when it’s in a demand area.

"Location is one of those perceptions and the quality of the homes in those areas are at a higher level to attain those prices.

"That’s why they would be in those categories."

Asked whether the recent flooding in South Dunedin could have an effect on the perception of St Clair’s median house price, Mr McCrea said "that’s a matter for the council".

Dunedin remained a good place for first-home buyers.

"There’s still plenty of stock on the market, and we’re still sitting around that $800,000.

"It went up to about $950,000 or $960,000 and it’s back down to about that $800,000 mark now.

"But there’s still plenty of properties on the market for sale, so the opportunity is there to buy.

"Effectively it’s still a buyers’ market because of the number of properties on the market.

"Our interest rates are coming down, and the easing of bank policies will make it more attractive to those buyers.

"Dunedin is still an affordable town."

Meanwhile, there were 18 "million-dollar suburbs" in the Otago region.

The Queenstown Lakes district has the bulk of the rest with 14 suburbs and Central Otago has the Lindis-Nevis Valleys with a present median of about $1.45m, which was expected to increase to $1.6m at the start of next year.

In Queenstown, Kelvin Heights leads the region with a median house price of $2.36m.

Bubbling under in the "almost million-dollar category", Cromwell West is the suburb expected to break the million-dollar barrier next year, as it is sitting at $965,000.

Meanwhile, Wānaka Central and Wānaka lakefront experienced prices contracted by -3% over the past three years.