It’s getting harder to find suburbs in Auckland where the average property value falls under $1 milllion, with the great majority of suburbs, even in a declining market, now well over $1m.
Of 276 suburbs in greater Auckland, only 28 have an average property value of under $1m, according to the latest OneRoof house price figures.
Of 2612 suburbs nationwide, 1628 had suburbs with average property values under $1m, though some suburbs had few sales which can skew the figures.
Wellington had the fewest suburbs falling under $1m, with only 7 out of 56, while Christchurch had the most with 82 suburbs out of 113 sitting under the $1m average value.
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In Auckland, many of the suburbs coming in under $1m average value are either represented by the apartment market in the centre of the city or are in areas located in the south of the city.
Richie Lewis, from Ray White Manukau, says it’s still possible to get a renovated, well-presented property on a cross lease section for around the $850,000 to $950,000 mark in some parts of his patch which includes Manurewa, Wiri, Clendon, Randwick, Otara, Weymouth and Favona.
All those suburbs came in under $1m in average value from the OneRoof/Valocity data.
For the same money, Lewis says you might also be able to pick up an unrenovated but liveable freehold 1960s or 1970s home on a 600sq m to 700sq m site with development potential.
He says prices in these areas have come back since the peak of the market in November last year.
“Properties that would have been situated somewhere in the $900,000 to $1m mark moved up to the $1.2m to $1.3 range pretty dramatically during the peak.
“We’ve started to see the shifting back in the direction of where we were before it took off.”
At auctions this week 66 per cent of stock was cleared with an average sale price of around $940,000, Lewis says.
A three-bedroom home on Palmers Road, in Clendon Park, fetched $877,000 in April. Photo / Supplied
This home on Te Irirangi Drive, in Clover Park, sold for $851,000 last month. Photo / Supplied
The sub $1m suburbs in Auckland’s south are predominantly first home buyer and investor suburbs.
“While we are not where we were back in November the savvy buyers are realising they can make a purchase and there is the development potential down the track even though they are not looking to exploit that right now.”
Recent sales by Ray White include 79 Palmers Road in Clendon Park, a freehold three-bedroom home on a 618sq m site which sold for $877,000 in April.
Another freehold home, in Barr Place in Weymouth, sold for $946,000 also in April, while 14 Burbank Avenue, in Manurewa , sold for $950,000 in February.
In Clover Park, 83 Te Irirangi Drive sold for $851,000 in May. That was a three-bedroom home on 474sqm, while 52 Regalwood Place in Favona, a three-bedroom on 702sq m of freehold land, sold for $939,000 in April
Lewis says homes where vendors are realistic about the market are still selling well as there are plenty of buyers with those sorts of budgets who are keen to buy.
“With a bit of competition they will press for the top end of their pre-approval.”
Other sub $1m markets include Auckland central, Grafton and Eden Terrace.
Axel Andersson of the Apartment Specialists says while there will always be rentals in the apartment market owner occupiers are starting to take over where he sells in Eden Terrace.
Eden Terrace has changed from an industrial area to a lot more developments and apartments, and people have warmed to apartments, he says.
“We’re seeing house prices in Auckland going quite out of the roof and people are, especially first home buyers, starting to look more to apartments so I think that's one of the reasons we're seeing a bit of change in who's buying in the area.”
A two-bedroom apartment at 7 Charlotte Street, in Eden Terrace, is priced at $679,000. Photo / Supplied
A good example of this is the Memphis, where Andersson is marketing a two-bedroom apartment at 7 Charlotte St for $699,000.
Andersson says the last few sales he has made at these apartments have been to owner occupiers.
“We’re seeing that across the board in a lot of the buildings around there.”
One of the attractions is the location as it is only a few minutes’ walk to the Mt Eden train station, something that future proofs these sorts of buys given the City Rail Link, Andersson thinks.
“People are seeing the potential buying in there and maybe using it as a stepping stone. Historically, when we're looking at other major cities in the world we've seen when they do big infrastructure or public transport changes like this we see values increase the next few years after that.”
The Charlotte St apartment is good buying for under $700,000, given it has two bedrooms and two car parks, he says, and while areas like Ponsonby may have reached its potential, Eden Terrace is still up and coming.
Papakura is another suburb which falls under the $1m average value. Glenis Shirley, branch manager for Harcourts Papakura, says the suburb has transformed over the past 10 years, going from rural to suburban with a lot of development.
“We’ve seen that sprawl. Where we used to have quarter acre sections there will be four or five properties there now.
“We’ve got quite a diverse little community here because we’ve got a lot of new builds and stuff like that happening which is bringing in the younger families and a lot of downsizers.”
A three-bedroom apartment at at 59 Beach Road, in Pahurehure, Papakura, can be picked up for $874,000. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts has several off the plan listings at a new development designed for first home buyers or investors in Pahurehure, with Lot 3 priced at $874,000.
Pakuranga also has apartment blocks, with apartments such as 11 East Street, listed at $659,000.
“They’re really nice little apartments. I’d be all over that if I was starting out. They range between $659,000 and $709,000 – where do you get a two bedroom brand new build that you can walk to the bus, train and you can walk to McDonalds.”
Papakura has easy access to the motorway north and south, plus it’s a short drive to Maraetai Beach or Glenbrook, and the Hunua ranges are not far away either, plus there are private schools, temples, sports facilities and great restaurants, Shirley says.
New Lynn, to the west of the city, is absolutely worth shopping in if you are a first home buyer, says Michael Gee, branch manager for Ray White.
“You could possibly get a freestanding home. It would be on a smaller site, it may be a do-up, and also terraced houses, they are selling in the $900,000s.”
Units are also an attraction for first home buyers.
A three-bedroom home on Miro Street, in New Lynn, is for sale by way of negotiation. Photo / Supplied
“New Lynn is prevalent for the likes of 1970s brick and tile units so there’s a few of those around on the market, then you move up from there into your three-bedroom terraced housing.”
Like any suburb, there are a variety of homes, with some selling well over the $1m mark, Gee says.
He describes New Lynn as a family suburb, saying there has been major investment over the last 10 years into the LynnMall hub which has the train station and central bus hub which makes it easy to get into the CBD.
Ray White has a number of offerings in New Lynn, from a three-bedroom character bungalow from the 1920s for sale by negotiation to a two-bedroom 1940s character home in Croydon Road, which is priced at $899,000.
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