21
The Weekend Sun
BUILDING, BUYING & RENOVATING
Kitchen ‘facelifts’ top option
Guy Metz from Dream Doors.
An old kitchen doesn’t need to be torn out and totally replaced with new, expensive cabinetry. All it needs is a ‘facelift’, says new Dream Doors Bay of Plenty/Waikato owner Guy Metz. Guy is promoting the concept of kitchen “facelifts” as an alternative for residents who find the cost and disruption of a new kitchen daunting. “Facelifts provide an affordable option for households while allowing changes to be made. You end up with what is essentially a brand new kitchen, but at an affordable cost. “We are quicker, cleaner; take less time and use quality cabinets and fittings. “So you get the basic same result as with a new kitchen, except there is less interruption to domestic life, less mess, and less waste. “We basically keep the bones of the kitchen, work-
ing with that to achieve a new kitchen which can fit any budget. Visit the comprehensive website to see the vast range of door and draw designs and colours available. They can also provide quality bench tops, splash backs, appliances and hardware. Dream Doors can provide innovative kitchen design and storage solutions for renovations or replacements if desired. “Kitchen design options can be confusing, but our staff have the experience and skills to help you make the right decisions to obtain your truly bespoke kitchen.” As part of a national chain, and using all locally made and guaranteed products, Dream Doors provides services to residential owners, rental properties, hotels, motels, commercial buildings and retirement homes. The new showroom is on Roxanne Place, Windermere. See advertisement on this page By Corrie Taylor for more information.
House prices reaching record highs Bay of Plenty’s median house prices are continuing to rise with figures showing prices reaching record highs for the third consecutive month. Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand today show property prices in the Waikato/ Bay of Plenty region for December 2013 rose $25,750, or eight per cent, from $320,750 in 2012 to $346,500 in 2013. The median price increased by $6500, or 1.9 per cent, in a month from $340,000 in November 2013. In Tauranga house prices for December continued an upward trend reaching $403,000. It is an increase on the $389,500 price tag in November and up $54,000 on December 2012’s $349,000. Mount Maunganui/Papamoa is also showing strong signs with a median price of $433,000, increasing from $415,000 in November 2013 and $405,000 in December 2012. Compared to December 2012, sales volumes throughout the region are up nine per cent, with strong growth shown in Mount Maunganui/Papamoa and Tauranga. But stacking up next to November 2012 sales plummeted 17 per cent and on a seasonally adjusted basis sales for the region fell four per cent. REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan notes the big fall in volume compared to November, and a record median high may indicate buyers at the lower price points are still uncertain and recent activity is “disproportionately weighted to sales of higher priced properties”. Nationwide, residential sales volumes continue to fall in December while overall prices continue to firm, with an all-time new median at $427,000 – a 0.5 per cent increase or $2000, above the previous record set in November 2013. For the month of December 5688 houses were sold nationally, down 1.1 per cent on December 2012. “It is yet too early to be specific about the underlying trends but there is growing evidence that the Reserve Bank’s LVR guidelines may be impacting sales volumes and distorting median prices in some regions.” Helen says the softer trend in sales noted in November 2013 continued into December. But she adds December’s shorter selling month means a drop from November sales volumes is a
normal part of the seasonal pattern. “However, the 10 year average fall is 13.6 per cent, while this year sales volumes have declined 18.3 per cent from November. While a small number of regions bucked the trend, other parts of the country recorded significantly greater falls in volume than the national figure.”
DREAM DOORS
®
The complete kitchen transformation service.