How much is a bathroom really worth?

RNZ News

a day ago

Living House bathroom.
Photo:
Supplied
What's an extra bathroom worth in a house, really?
If you're trying to get ready in the morning alongside your spouse and kids, you might think the answer is "quite a lot".
Cotality, formerly Corelogic, data shows that people are willing to pay more for houses with multiple bathrooms.
Head of research Nick Goodall looked at the value of three-bedroom houses compared to the value of three bedrooms houses with two bathrooms, when the characteristics such as floor size, land area and decade built, were otherwise similar.
For a three-bedroom house built in the 2000s, people were willing to spend $39,000 more for a second bathroom in Waitakere, $62,000 more in Manukau, $65,000 more in Hamilton, $51,000 more in Tauranga and $59,000 more in Christchurch.
"It may reflect the size of households in those areas, for example if household sizes are higher in Manukau, Hamilton and Christchurch then perhaps buyers value the extra bathroom there, more so than in Waitakere and to a lesser degree Tauranga."
He said it became more common for newly built three-bedroom houses to have two bathrooms in the 2000s.
"It shows that the ways households are formed these days, that requirement is more expected."
Some people were adding bathrooms into houses that did not have more than one, he said.
"There's that desire to have multiple bathrooms in a house even if you've only go three bedrooms. Anyone with kids will know… we personally added a bedroom and a bathroom. The bathroom is almost the most important because kids will share a bedroom, but when there are four or five people in a households that second bathroom is pretty important."
He said the data seemed to indicate that it was worth spending the money to do.
"If a buyer is likely to be willing to spend $40,000 to $60,000 more… that looks like the additional value. It's not a perfect analysis because there could be other factors but I suppose it provides some comfort that if you're spending $30,000 you're likely not over-capitalising and you will see that value returned to you as and when you sell."
He said for property investors, an extra bathroom was probably more like to help a place rent rather than generate higher rent.
"They might get more value from a bedroom, where you can increase the rent of the back of it."
Property investor Steve Goodey said he found that extra bathrooms were a bonus.
He said any home with more than two bedrooms should at least have an additional toilet.
Real estate salesperson Brooke Gibson said having one bathroom would narrow the market for a property and could affect the price, but there would still be people who wanted to buy. "I'm a huge believer in you buy what you can afford and make it work."
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