104 | PROPERTY For Farms (NZ) T T Hugh de lacy Outside forces impact property market For Farms partners - Peter Clayton, left, and Craig Boyden. “That coincided with the big shift of people to work from home, something that around 25% of the working population now does.” History will see the Covid pandemic as triggering the most extraordinary period yet in real estate in New Zealand, according to Craig Boyden, an owner of the Dannevirke-based For Farms real estate agency, whose roots go back to 1889. “The market now is in a state of flux, after the pre-Covid period of an average market clinging to the status quo, but subsequent events have fundamentally changed it,” Craig says. “Covid suddenly prompted New Zealanders into a massive drift south, where they could enjoy life without the complexities of city living. “That coincided with the big shift of people to work from home, something that around 25% of the working population now does. “Suddenly people were moving to the country, into small towns and on to lifestyle blocks, and they were helped by the extremely low interest rates – just 2-3% – that came hard on the heels of the pandemic itself. “That continued through 2021 and 2022, but towards the end of that time interest rates started to rise, and suddenly real estate became hard to sell,” he says. Both born and bred in Dannevirke, Craig and his business partner Peter Clayton teamed up 26 years ago to form their two companies, For Farms and For Homes, which are based in the same Dannevirke building. Craig previously ran the company J R Boyden Real Estate, founded by his father Rex Boyden, whose family roots in the industry go back to Craig’s business forefathers nearly 130 years ago. Peter had his own firm, Southern Real Estate, in Dannevirke until he teamed up with Craig in 1999 to form their two companies, with the revenue from both companies and their staff of 10 being about the same. For Homes covers Dannevirke and districts’ residential market, while For Farms has a reach across the lower half of the North Island. With neither market having stagnated since the post-Covid boom, the countrification of New Zealand real estate has continued, albeit more slowly, Craig says. “There has been some overseas interest in both forms of real estate since the Trump administration plunged the world into confusion as it heads towards dictatorship. America’s obviously sharply divided by Trump, and that’s led to some inquiry here for real estate, but it isn’t significant,” Craig says. “Probably the start of the Ukraine war three years ago had a bigger impact on our market as people from the United Kingdom especially, but also from Western Europe, came here to escape the tension and the threat of the war expanding. “A lot of UK people are connected to New Zealand by ancestry, while the Dutch, for example, have a considerable presence in our dairy industry.” Craig says For Farms makes the best-possible use of the latest technology by establishing regionalised pods of rural land agents operating independently, while employing the head office in Dannevirke as their administration centre. “We have proven our abilities as land agents through our continued successful performance despite difficult times,” he says. 38 Denmark St Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 7089 www.dorrington.co.nz Dorrington Poole L A W Y E R S Est. 1914 Proud to support For Farms (NZ) Ltd and the wider community of Hawkes Bay, Tararua and the Wairarapa. PLACEMAKERS DANNEVIRKE 06 374 4260 ( ) Dannevirke Mitre 10 155 High Street, Dannevirke Phone: 06 374 6045 | Email: dannevirke@mitre10.co.nz Mitre 10 Dannevirke are proud to support For Farms (NZ) Ltd
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