The housing market slowdown, noted in cities around New Zealand, appears to have skirted Waiheke Island.
According to the latest OneRoof-Valocity figures, Waiheke Island's average property value has risen 36.9% year on year to $2.269m, but unlike other parts of Auckland, demand has stayed strong, with the island registering growth of 9.7% in the last three months.
That has resulted in some big sales, at the top and bottom of the island’s property market.
Ray White Waiheke agent Shelley Dewar told OneRoof that she had recently sold four houses on the island – all within a two-week window, and some before their auction date.
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One was a three-bedroom house on a 1625sqm section at 30 Hobson Terrace, in Onetangi, which fetched $ 1.52m – more than double the property’s 2017 CV of $730,000. The property was destined for auction, but was snapped up by a local beforehand via private treaty.
Dewar said the property didn’t need any work and was market ready from the outset. “The place was so tidy when I first went to see it, that there was nothing I could recommend to take it to market.”
Dewar also sold a two-bedroom bach on an 809sqm section at nearby 4 Hartley Avenue for $1.48m. Of the eight bidders who registered for the auction, five fought it out on the day. “That was a really good auction,” she said.
Dewar and her co-agent on Hartley Avenue, Ray White Waiheke principal Matthew Smith, also brought to auction a 274sqm three-bedroom solid masonry and cedar home on a waterfront site at 24 Esslin Road, in Kennedy Point, on February 5 .
30 Hobson Terrace, in Onetangi, sold for more than double its 2017 CV. Photo / Supplied
The property fetched $4.035m after bids from three local buyers. Smith said auctions at this level tended to attract buyers from off the island but the property’s location - in a part of the island most associate with the car ferry - may have been an influencing factor.
“If you've invested time and been on the island, you get to know that there are locations [like Kennedy Point] which are fantastic.” Buyers from off the island don’t know that, Smith said, and usually focused on the northern beaches.
The new buyers know the area well, he said. “They run a business here. They love the water. And they have young children. It's five minutes’ walk to the school. It's safe being at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. You've got the beach 300m away. For real water people who have young kids it's just absolute gold.”
The property had a 2017 CV of $2.125m but the vendors had done a lot to upgrade it since picking it up in 2019 for just under $2m. “It’s completely flat land at the end of a private cul-de-sac, faces north and comes with mooring. You hardly ever see these types of properties on the market.”
Smith said that properties like Esslin Road were still in demand, but there are signs buyers are becoming pickier. “If what you're offering doesn’t have the X factor, your buyers are less than they were a few months ago,” Smith said.
27 Kennedy Road, in Surfdale, was picked up by downsizers. Photo / Supplied
X factor describes 27 Kennedy Road, in Surfdale, which Waiheke Homes agent Brad Roebuck-Ward sold for $1.22m. The architect-designed home is three storeys in height and is accessible by a narrow bridge. The buyers were downsizing on the island. “A lot of people are downsizing," Roebuck-Ward said. "We are often dealing with people who have owned their houses for years and years and years.”
An earlier sale Roebuck-Ward brokered did bring in new blood when a $4.25m locally-occupied home was bought by Aucklanders to be used as a bach. The 14a View Road, in Palm Beach, property had a CV of $2.15m.
Roebuck-Ward said the best months for selling on Waiheke were November and February and the market was really buoyant now.
14a View Road, in Palm Beach, was bought by Aucklanders as a holiday home. Photo / Supplied
What is finally starting to move on Waiheke are the land parcels on the Wawata Estate, which Smith is marketing. Previously they hadn’t proved popular with buyers, but prices have been lowered. “We’ve got offers on two of the properties now,” Smith said.
Buyers are now more comfortable with the idea of waiting two to three years for the build, because they know they’ll be able to travel in the meantime, he says. “The world's opened up again. The sense of freedom is there again. So, people are okay not to have a bach to use in the meantime.”
Smith said that excluding the Wawata Estate properties, stock was running below expectations. “We should really be running about 150 listings. If you take Wawata Estates off we have 80 left.”
