More than two-thirds of the 36-lot Matai Ridge development were reported sold two years ago, but an agenda item on last Tuesday’s Gore District Council meeting showed a change.
Mayor Ben Bell told The Ensign some of the buyers ended up defaulting "quite a while" ago and the market had since been quite stagnant.
He said his team were switching it up to sell the remaining 15 sections by spreading them out between different real estate outfits — "to drive a bit of competition and hopefully get those properties sold".
The 15 have been split into threes, to be sold by Gore agencies Property Brokers, Harcourts, Bayleys, Colliers and Ray White.
In the joint venture between the Gore District Council and Wilson Contractors, the first 15 lots of Matai Ridge were released Christmas 2021, and quickly sold out, reports said.
At the time, then council chief executive Stephen Parry said the second release of sections was brought forward to meet the demand experienced with stage one.
"We always suspected there was a significant shortage of good residential sections in Gore," he said at the time.
"The market response to Matai Ridge has confirmed that."
The two highest-priced lots set a new benchmark of $225,000 each, Mr Parry said then.
Mr Bell said a change in financial landscape and a clause in the contract that they had to be developed caused some of the properties to fold in and be returned to the council.
They had been trying to sell t them for a while now and the price had come down very slightly to encourage some take-up, Mr Bell said.
The agenda item said the 21 sold sections had generated $3m of revenue and the remaining 15 were expected to generate another $2m.
Colliers real estate agent Fiona Scobbie said the three Kahikatea Dr properties she was selling were priced to sell.
