Golden Bay residents are getting locked out of the housing and rental market as outsiders snap up homes in the popular holiday destination.

Ray White Golden Bay owner Billy Kerrisk said of the 50 properties she had sold this year, only three were to Golden Bay clients clients moving to another house in Golden Bay.

Most of the sales were of holiday homes with the majority of buyers from Nelson, followed by Christchurch and Wellington. Fewer than 20 sales were to clients who moved into the homes they bought.

LOIS MORELAND A beautiful winter's day at the popular holiday destination Tata Beach, Golden Bay.

Kerrisk said the absentee owners were renting their houses out short term-term or not at all.

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"The ripple-on affect this is having on our community is not good. Locals who haven't got anywhere to live are desperately competing with the outsiders."

Kerrisk said the community's structure was being undermined.

"Those locals who are supporting the community aren't being supported in their most basic necessities, and those from outside are buying but not necessarily giving back. It's disproportionate," she said.

The property market frenzy meant Kerrisk was getting at least four phone calls a day from buyers outside Golden Bay relaying to her their "wish-list".

While house listings had dropped, demand had surged causing prices to soar well above outdated rateable values.

A recent QV report shows median house prices in the Tasman District rose to $475,427 in September, which is 11.4 per cent higher than the same time last year.

A solo mother, who did not want to be named, said she had moved twelve times in seven years since she had moved to Golden Bay.

"I'm almost ready to give up on this place," she said. "People are coming in from the cities to buy houses and squeezing everybody else out."

She moved from Wellington with her 4-year-old son to finish her thesis and for a break from the busy city life.

But finding long term accommodation has been tough and it was having an effect on her son.

They never stayed anywhere for more than six months — living out of spare rooms, house-buses and sleep-outs.

They house-sat for several locals who went away, and even slept in a tent for several summer months.

The constant moving was "destabilising" for them both, she said.

"Even when you do find a temporary home you still feel homeless, because you can't put down your roots."

Her son, now 11, had emotional "issues" and she'd been told it was because they moved around a lot.

"We're in a room that is more longer-term than usual at the moment, and he's just left everything in his boxes. He knows that change is coming — he's always ready for that."

Her mother had offered to help them with a deposit to buy a house, but she couldn't find anything available under $350k that was livable.

"I'm now looking at moving to Palmerston North, where I can actually afford to buy a nice house."

She believed the solution lay in making more low-cost housing available to buy.

"Then we could all be paying off a mortgage instead of lining the pockets of someone else's capital gain."

Bachcare founder Leslie Preston said the company was experiencing unprecedented growth in Golden Bay.

The company manages 50 properties in the area. The majority of clients were holiday-home owners looking to derive income when not using the property for personal use, she said.

In comparison, neighbouring Nelson city offered a more year-round appeal so the holiday-home rental market was more consistent.

"Golden Bay has a strong summer market for short-term rentals, that naturally quietens down during the winter months."

It was during these times owners would rent their personal holiday homes out short-term to locals, or not at all.

Golden Bay property manager Shona Martin said there had always been a shortage of long-term rentals in Golden Bay, but it was "just getting worse."

"I'm seeing people from outside are investing and buying houses for their own personal use, and then they aren't renting them out."

First National company partner Sharon McConnan said she had also seen a rise in outsiders buying in the area.

Some clients hoped to escape the city; some were investors; and some were Christchurch refugees finally getting their insurance payouts.

But people often forgot that Golden Bay had always been a holiday town, McConnan said.

"It's easy for people to feel begrudgingly of those who buy holiday homes for their own personal use and then rent them out to their family or for short periods, but it's not anyone's fault, its just the nature of things here."