You might think Auckland CBD and the suburbs that surround it wouldn’t qualify as affordable but they have lower median property values than most of the city.
Data published by OneRoof this week shows the median value of all residential properties in Auckland CBD was only $460,000. Nearby Grafton was not much higher at $475,000.
And buyers can expect to pay $615,000 in Eden Terrace and $660,000 in Newmarket.
Agents who work these areas point out that most of what’s on offer around these prices are small apartments - and there are big exceptions to the price range if you look at high-end waterfront apartments and what is still to come with the rise of luxury apartments at the 57 storey Pacifica and Seascape towers where penthouses cost in the millions.
Start your property search
Alastair Kain, of Apartment Specialists, says the apartment market in the CBd tends to be dominated by investors as much of the stock is less than 40sq m which makes lending difficult for first home buyers.
For the $460,000 median, you are looking at a basic apartment with a kitchen, one or two bedrooms and possibly a small balcony, but 40sq m isn’t much space so it’s going to be compact.
Bayleys agent David Rainbow, who's been living and selling in Newmarket for more than 20 years, says the suburb used to be ignored by buyers but the area is now desirable - mainly due to its proximity to the city, newer quality developments and the revitalised retail offering.
New development: The under-construction Neo apartments at Madeira Lane, Grafton.
"It all started to change when apartments and townhouses started being built. Grafton and Newmarket has been sought-after because of the proximity to the city," he says.
Median sales in Grafton haven't grown much because it is a very small area with limited stock available, Rainbow says.
"I have people from Herne Bay who are looking for a place in Newmarket because they are tired of of traffic when driving through the city their children to school, but there's just not enough available," he says.
Ray White agent Steve King says those looking for space in Grafton need to up their budget. “You’re not going to get a hell of a lot [for under $500,000]."
King is selling two-bedroom 57sq m apartments at the under construction Neo Apartments in Grafton's Madeira Lane in the $800,000s price bracket. Anything under $500,000 in the same complex would get a studio, he says, adding that a budget of $660,000 in Newmarket would get a 50sqm to 60sqm apartment with a car park.
His suburb to watch is Eden Terrace, which he calls “affordable Grey Lynn”.
“The demographic of the area is similar to Grey Lynn in terms of young professionals with a bit of money and there’s quite a few new developments that have been going on there,” he says.
“There’s probably about four or five new apartment blocks that have been built there recently and the values are going up. They’re starting to get a bit of infrastructure in there with cafes and things.”
25/42 St Benedicts Street, Eden Terrace, is for sale for $645,000.
Ric Parore, from LJ Hooker, who is selling a two-bedroom apartment at St Benedicts Street in Eden Terrace with an asking price of $645,000, says that for the suburb's median of $615,000 you might get a pretty run-down two bedroom pad that needs a bit of work.
“You’d have a few things to do, like maybe painting, renovating, maybe new kitchen, maybe one car park.”
You might get a tiny “smoker’s balcony” and a view of other buildings, but in a strong location which is only a walk to cafes, buses and the CBD.
South Auckland
South Auckland boasts some of the city's most affordable properties, and the housing market there is rising as a result.
Tom Rawson, Ray White director of Manukau, Manurewa and Mangere Bridge, has seen rapid changes in his six years in business, but particularly over the past 12 months. "The 12 months prior to this, prices went backwards, but we've had the correction and now there's a slight price rise," he says.
Auctions, for a long time out of favour in South Auckland, are making a comeback which is lifting prices compared to priced marketing. Investors are back in the market, competing with owner occupiers for the most popular properties: 800 or more sq m with single older house. Those in good condition appeal to buyers who can live in the house now (or rent it out), but land bank for future development, while if they're run down, developers can get stuck into demolishing and rebuilding multi-units, he says.
"Manurewa is massive, developers are piling in there now," Rawson says. He says the key is property on the main trunk line (or ferry, in the case of Beachlands) that is walkable to train stations and town centres, and that has happened quickly as changes permitted in the Unitary Plan three years ago start to take effect. Last month the agency sold a 670 sq m property in Papatoetoe's town house and apartment zone for $720,000 that he estimates a year or so earlier would have fetched only $660,000. The new owners plan to land bank to develop later.
A property at 78 Coxhead Road, Manurewa, is typical: a flat 809 sq m section in mixed housing suburban zoning, but with two well insulated houses on it now for good home and income or investor return now, walkable to schools and town centre.
In the hot zone: 78 Coxhead Road, Manurewa.
Arizto agent Pernell Callaghan knows the south well and has three-bedroom 5b Pureora Place in Clendon Park on the market for $520,000.
Callaghan’s marketing the property as being at the end of a cul de sac, private, fenced and affordable with a flat backyard.
“It’s just standard condition inside, not a do up, not renovated, currently owner-occupied, just liveable.”
Interest is coming from a mix of investors and home-buyers, he says, and where investors offer a little less home-buyers will pay a little more, he says.
In the $545,000 price range almost all the houses in Clendon Park are three bedrooms and between 80 and 100sq m because that’s what was being built during the 1980s and 1990s when the suburb was developed.
5b Pureora Place in Clendon Park. The suburb is growing in popularity.
For the median price you will get either a freehold house that needs a lot of work, or a crosslease which has been fully renovated, he says.
Favona, on the other hand, with a median of $675,000, is a newer suburb built in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and has a lot of three to five bedroom brick and tile standalone houses with double garages.
In Manurewa, where the median is $625,000, you get more for your money than in nearby Mangere with its $665,000 median, Callaghan says.
But Manurewa has areas, such as The Gardens, where the average price is over $1m which can skew the average prices.
“I think you’d find if you looked at the core of Manurewa it’s probably more around that $560,000, maybe $570,000.”
Manukau, with its average of $500,000, is going through intensification and is mainly apartments: “It’s basically what we call the CBD of the south.”
Pukekohe
To get more for your money, you could try heading south to Pukekohe where the median sales price of $655,000 will buy you a new three bedroom house.
Mike Hook from Bayleys is selling a three-bedroom, two-bathroom nearly new designer home in the Belmont development with an asking price of $699,000, so a bit above the median - go straight to the listing - but says you can buy new in the same development for the $655,000 median.
It would be a pretty cookie cutter floor plan and made of basic materials, whereas the one he has for sale has a walk in wardrobe, extra bathroom and more up to date fittings and fixtures.
Wellsford
Heading in the other direction, rural Wellsford on the main road north is a great option if you want more bang for your buck, says Denise Pearson from Mike Pero.
The median in the Rodney town to the north of the city is $570,000 and Pearson already has an offer on a two-bedroom home she is selling with an asking price of $515,000.
In Wellsford a three bedroom home can sells for between $525,000 to $570,000, she says.
If you want a “one-and-a-half-hectare lifestyle” with a lovely three bedroom, two bathroom home possibly with a studio you are looking at high $700,000s, she says.
Affordable on the outskirts: 2/4 Wi Apo Place, in Wellsford, is for sale for $515,000.
But even at the median of $570,000 you can get a nicely renovated home built in the 1960s, 70s or 80s.
When people bought those homes at the $300,000 or $350,000 mark they put everything into them, Pearson says.
“You’ve got lovely new kitchens, new bathooms, you’ve got three bedrooms and they probably added an extra bathroom.”
And in Wellsford, most of the homes have country views no matter where you are, she says.
