A new 35 section subdivision is finally being launched onto the Gore housing market and the timing couldn't be better, according to two local real estate agents.

First National Gore's owners Tara and Graham Maxwell said that after 2 years of very buoyant growth and a very tight rental market, Gore needed more houses.

People are asking for land all the time, and recruitment agencies need more houses for staff they said.

The boom, initially triggered by big projects like the Mataura Valley Milk factory, has seen average house prices more than double to over $400,000 in just five years.

Gore District Council (GDC) mayor Tracy Hicks acknowledged the council’s decision in 2018 to put the project on hold was because the timing just hadn’t been right then.

But he said the demand for housing in Gore was more significant now than it’s ever been.

“I’ve had some of our biggest employers say they can’t attract staff because there’s no housing and a shortage of residential sections”.

“It’s (Matai Ridge) exciting. We haven’t had a subdivision of this scale since the 1980s” Hicks said.

Local stone mason Tim Bradley was one of the original contractors on the project, building three walls at the subdivision's entrance.

He was please the project had been restarted, which would provided more houses for people and bring more work for tradesmen and workers.

GDC chief executive Stephen Parry said the Council’s contribution to the joint venture was its expenditure to date, which totalled about $1.15 million.

“We bring to the table the market value of the land, detailed engineering designs, resource consent and marketing among other things.”

Under the joint venture, revenue will be shared in proportion to the financial contribution of each party, Mr Parry said.

Wilson Contractor chief executive Steve Osborne said the company had been involved in this project since 2017 – “we are happy that soon we can finally turn dirt”.

The first 15 sections are being released this week by First National Gore.