The new CVs issued by Auckland Council today highlight the explosion in the city's prime real estate market.
An analysis of the new CVs by OneRoof and its data partner Valocity shows the number of Auckland properties with CVs of $10 million and above rocketed 120% since the last valuations were issued, in 2017.
Of the 486 residential properties at the very top of the city's housing market, 46 have a CV of between $20m and $50m, up from 19 in 2017, and one has a CV of more than $50m.
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That single $50m-plus property belongs to New Zealand’s wealthiest person, Graeme Hart, and sits in Riddell Road, in Glendowie. Hart bought the cliff top mansion for $2m in 1995, but has since carried out $30m worth of renovations.
While Glendowie is home to New Zealand's most expensive residence (only nine other properties in the suburb have a CV of $10m-plus), Remuera has the most luxury homes - by a long stretch.
The OneRoof-Valocity analysis shows there are 122 properties in the prized central city suburb with $10m-plus CVs, up from 55 in 2017. The next richest suburbs is Takapuna, which has 46 homes with $10m-plus CVs (up from 20 in 2017).
An aerial shot of Graeme Hart’s Glendowie mansion in 2012. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Herne Bay - which has the country's highest average property value - ranks third, boasting 42 homes with CVs of $10m and above, up from 23 in 2017, followed by St Heliers with 39 homes. Orakei with 25 and Waiheke and Mission Bay with 17.
Remuera also (just) beats Herne in the $20m to $50m CV bracket. It has 11 homes in that category, up from three in 2017, while Herne Bay has 10, up from four.
That's more a reflection of the fact that Remuera has eight times the number of properties Herne Bay has. So while Remuera has more prestige homes, Herne Bay is the more exclusive: 22% of its total housing stock has a CV of $5m and above, compared to 10% in Remuera.
The value surge at the top end of Auckland’s housing market is a surprise – even to the data analysts. Wayne Shum, senior research analyst at Valocity, said the figures showed a huge amount of value growth in the city’s wealthiest suburbs.
“This is really something else. Usually, the top end of the market doesn’t see the most rapid movement. That’s reserved usually for more ordinary mum and dad properties,” he said.
Bayleys Remuera agent Gary Wallace puts Remuera’s leading position down to its proximity to the centre of the city and private schools, combined with the suburb’s residential amenity.
“The growth has been extraordinary. It is a very desirable area. There's a good quantity of properties that reside on large land holdings.”
He added: “Council intensification across the city will just make those land holdings even more valuable. When I’m talking to buyers now, I’m saying $8m is the new $5m.”
However, Wallace is expecting prices to drop. “At the coalface we’re potentially (expecting) a 10% drop.”
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne says Herne Bay offers a unique lifestyle. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Barfoot & Thompson agent Leila McDonald, who also works in Remuera, told OneRoof that the new CVs may have underestimated the actual number of $10m-plus properties in the suburb. “They never visit the property. They don’t even know if the property is still there,” she said.
Kellands agent Martin Dobson wasn’t surprised that Herne Bay, where he works, has seen a big increase in the number of homes with high CVs. “It is a fair comment to say there has been demand for good quality and un ique properties,” he said, adding that many of the highest value homes were on the waterfront.
What made suburbs like Herne Bay more valuable, he said, was the fact that “you can’t create any more land. All the most desirable land has already been developed.”
What’s more, there are never more than a few top end properties available at any one time. “When they come up, they are not competing against another 10 to 20 houses of the same ilk,” he said. “I don’t ever remember seeing 10 water front properties for sale at any one time and I have been selling properties for 20 years.”
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne said a large percentage of Herne Bay’s waterfront homes had riparian rights. “That makes it unique. They are right on the water with water lapping at their boundary. That brings a sense of privacy. It’s a spectacular thing,” she said.
This unit on one of Remuera's most prized streets is for sale for under $800,000. Photo / Supplied
“To be right on Herne Bay and drop your paddle board or your kayak straight into the water and push off, or have a [private] pontoon or a boat shed, that's a unique lifestyle. You are also adjacent to the city. You’re not crossing the bridge or driving a distance out of the city.”
Despite the stratospheric rise in the $10m+ club, Herne Bay still has 17 homes with CVs of less than $750,000 (Remuera has 207).
Both Dobson and Milne were hard pressed to cite any homes in Herne Bay that could be worth less than $750,000, no matter how small.
Milne said CVs tend to play catch-up when properties sell. “There are properties that have not sold for many years. A turnover helps drive the CV. Those that don't sell tend to lag behind where the rateable value might sit. That's my experience.”
Dobson said there were some very old apartment buildings in Herne Bay, and there might conceivably be lower priced units in poor condition. But he was still doubtful.
Likewise, neither McDonald, nor Wallace could pinpoint any lower price homes in Remuera in the sub $750,000.
Remuera, however, does have some bargain properties. UP Real Estate’s Josh Nixon has a one-bedroom 1960s ground floor apartment with patio for sale with an asking price of $799,000. Not only is it bottom end, but the property at 3/267 Victoria Avenue, is at th e prime northern cul-de-sac end of one of Auckland’s top streets, and in the double grammar zone. What’s more its 2017 CV was $720,000.
