New research from OneRoof and its data partner has identified the New Zealand suburbs with the most sales in 2021.
Top of the table is Rolleston, in Selwyn, Canterbury, where 1310 sales were settled in the in the year to December 20 – a rate of almost four properties a day.
A flood of new builds and new subdivisions accounts for much of sales activity in the suburb, as is the case in Papakura and Flat Bush, in Auckland, where total sales for this were 1300 and 1176 respectively.
Auckland Central, which is dominated by one and two-bedroom apartments and is the cheapest entry point for first home buyers in the city, recorded 1093 settled sales this year.
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Papamoa Beach, in Tauranga, is the only suburb outside of Auckland to feature in the top 10, with much of the sales activity in the coastal spot driven by demand for baches and new builds.
Total sales for New Zealand landed at just over 126,000, up 3% on the year before, with the total value of sales was $109 billion, up from $92 billion the year before.
Three suburbs – Remuera, Flat Bush and Papakura - completed more than $1 billion in sales, with Auckland’s Remuera recording the year’s highest tally - $1.74b from 617 sales, almost what it recorded two years ago.
The research also identified the suburbs with the highest turnover of properties.
Leading the pack is Clyde Hill, in Dunedin, which saw 10.7% of its total housing stock change hands this year.
One Agency agent Sandra Clark, who has sold several homes in the suburb, says it has great views and is desirable for first home buyers, with OneRoof figures showing its average property value sitting at just over $500,000.
Coming in second is Albany Heights, in Auckland’s North Shore, which saw 7.8% of its total housing stock sell in 2021, closely followed by Long Bay and Hobsonville, also both in Auckland.
On the surface the numbers might not appear that exciting, says James Wilson, director of valuations at Valocity, as the locations identified are typically suburbs with large new developments.
“Sometimes there's more trends going on there,” says Wilson. “By that, I mean if you look at [large-scale] popular developments such as Hobsonville Point and Stonefields in the Auckland context, you see large sales volumes coming through. But then you also see the recycling of that stock
“For example, first home buyers who bought a small terrace house or apartment in one of these suburbs will typically look to upgrade into the larger family home in the same development."
Looking at suburbs that have more than 500 homes outside of Auckland, Marfell in New Plymouth came in the highest in percentage terms at 5.7% of the stock turning over in 2021, followed by Richmond in Invercargill at 5.1%.
Remuera, in central Auckland, has recorded more than $1.7 billion in house sales. Photo / Chris Tarpey
Neale Parkinson, Bayleys Taranaki agent says strong sales numbers in Marfell were in part thanks to a 68 home development by Kāinga Ora. The KiwiBuild homes in the Discovery Development started rolling out in 2020 and 26 more sold in the middle of 2021. “While Bayleys were not involved in this particular sell down we were involved in a number of other transactions in the suburb,” says Parkinson.
“The Kāinga Ora [development] and housing in general within Marfell has offered affordable entry living housing opportunities for people to get into the marketplace, where other New Plymouth suburbs have often become beyond reach for first home buyers.”
The 26 three and four bedroom homes that sold in the middle of 2021 were priced between $420,00 and $440,000.
Richmond in Invercargill was more of an enigma. Unlike some of the other high turnover suburbs Richmond doesn’t have a large amount of new development.
Harcourts agent Lisa Bartley says the turnover is most likely due to the fact that neighbouring Windsor, a highly sought after suburb, was becoming overpopulated. “There is no more land to build on, in Windsor,” says Bartley. “Also, Richmond has bigger sections that can be subdivided. It also has a great central location (near) to the city.”
