Source: Cotality
New analysis by Cotality finds that trading up from a three-bedroom to a four-bedroom house typically still commands a six-figure premium.
What is the trade-up premium?
One way to measure the potential costs facing a property owner who’s looking to ‘trade up’ is to assess the difference in median values between three bedroom and four bedroom houses – this equates to the extra debt and/or equity that needs to be found.
It’s not a perfect measure; some people might see trading up as getting the same-sized house that’s newer or in a ‘better’ suburb. However, extra space would be how many households view a trade-up.
The areas with large gaps
Using the Cotality Market Trends dataset, the first chart shows the top 10 suburbs with the largest trade-up premium (as at mid-2026) across three and four bedroom houses.
Few people would be surprised to see parts of Auckland in that list, as well as Queenstown-Lakes, but areas such as Mackenzie, Waipa, Hastings, Whakatane, and Western Bay of Plenty might be not as widely expected. One factor in some of those markets could be the prevalence of more desirable enclaves (e.g. Tekapo, Havelock North) where a shift from a three-bedroom house to a four-bedroom property could also tend to mean a distinct change of suburb in many cases.
Each of these areas still have a trade-up premium of $290,000 or more, although that gap has fallen by 7% over the past year in Western Bay of Plenty and Auckland City (as four bedroom properties have fallen more than three bedrooms), with a drop of nearly 12% in Hastings, and 9% in Queenstown-Lakes – albeit that shift in Queenstown is only because four-bedroom properties have grown a bit less than three-bedrooms.
Put another way (aside from Queenstown perhaps), it’s got a little easier to shift up in a lot of these areas, especially with a tendency for many households to have strong incomes too.
The areas with smaller premiums
At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom 10 all have a trade-up premium of less than $120,000, and are all smaller, provincial areas spread across both the North and South Islands. Waitomo, Otorohanga, and Kawerau all have a gap between three- and four-bedroom houses of less than $100,000. Of course, with incomes also tending to be lower in some of these areas, a trade-up may not necessarily be much more affordable than other parts of the country.
Where have the changes been?
Turning to the changes since we last looked at this topic in the middle of 2025, there have been sizeable percentage increases in the trade-up premium in Ruapehu, Grey, and Opotiki (all at least 10%). Although in the case of Opotiki, the median values for three-bedroom houses have dropped by more than four bedrooms – as opposed to slightly faster rises for the bigger properties in Grey and Ruapehu.
What about in dollar terms? Mackenzie ($26,180), Grey ($22,363), and Opotiki ($22,086) have all seen the trade-up premium lift by at least $20,000 in the past year, whereas it’s fallen by at least that amount in areas such as Western Bay of Plenty, New Plymouth, Queenstown-Lakes, Hastings, and Auckland City.
A sluggish market can be a good time to trade up
Overall, then, some areas have become more favourable over the past year for people looking to get a bit of extra space (although it’s still not necessarily ‘easy’ as such), while naturally it’s become slightly tougher elsewhere.
In general, though, it’s worth keeping in mind that soft patches in the property market can sometimes be a good opportunity to trade up; even though a lot of households tend to withdraw when uncertainty is elevated. That can be because they’re concerned about the price they might get for their current house, but they potentially overlook the fact that the bigger property may have dropped even further.
For example, take the contrast between Christchurch and Wellington City – having gone about $29,000 above Christchurch in 2021, the trade-up gap in Wellington has since drifted downwards and is now around $25,000 less than Christchurch.
Our Cotality Buyer Classification data continues to show that movers are cautious at the moment, whether that’s Wellington City, or Christchurch, or a wide range of other areas. And for as long as the current economic uncertainty stays elevated, that buyer group may remain on the sidelines. But at some stage when sentiment and job security improves, owner-occupier households are likely to start to transact again, and those who get active first could benefit the most from recent reductions in the trade-up premium in a number of areas.