House prices in Auckland’s Stonefields have finally turned a corner, with a terrace home in the master-planned suburb breaking the $2 million mark for the first time in more than a year.
The suburb has long been considered “bulletproof” by many, and during the Covid boom it recorded multiple sales of $2m-plus.
In the first six months of 2022 there were more than ten $2m-plus sales in Stonefields, including a house on Papango Street, which sold for a record-breaking $2.9m in May 2022.
Earlier this year a four-bedroom stand-alone home on Kauriki Terrace sold under the hammer for just over $2m while another stand-alone home on nearby Brian Slater Way sold for $2.1535m – the suburb’s highest settled sale so far this year.
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However, sale prices of terrace homes have been fairly subdued this year, with none stretching beyond $2m until the sale of a four-bedroom home on Kauriki Terrace at Barfoot & Thompson’s auctions on Wednesday.
Listing agent Helen Clelland said there was good demand for the 218sqm home, with bids kicking off at $2m and steadily rising to $2.1m.
“It is an end terrace and almost better than a stand-alone home,” she said. “It has amazing views over the pond and can’t be built out.”
The vendor, who is moving to a retirement village, was delighted with the sale price, Clelland said. “Terrace houses in Stonefields generally go for around the $1.7m mark.”
The sale price was below the 2021 CV of $2.45m, but $500,000 above what it last traded for in 2015, according to OneRoof records.
Ray White business owner John Q, whose patch covers Stonefields, said that prices in the suburb were very property-specific, but property values on the whole were holding steady.
“The buyers are completely familiar with what they’re buying. They’re familiar with the layout, the location, they already know what aspect they’re looking into,” he said.
“Free-standing homes, at the peak, we were selling in the early to mid-$2ms and now it’s still holding its value. Terraces are still holding, too, but we’re not generating the same volume of sales as we had at the peak. It’s slow but more of a qualified buyer,” he said.
Homes in Stonefields are popular with younger couples and those who already live in the suburb. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Q said buyers were a mix of downsizers from within the suburb and from nearby suburbs looking at trading up to a bigger house, while two to three-bedroom townhouses and apartments were attracting young couples.
“Two-bedroom terraces are selling closer to $1.2m mark, the larger three to four-bedroom again, depends on the layout, but we’ve had one go under contract for north of $1.7m. Smaller apartments are under $1m, the larger ones just over $1m.”
Q said that a lot of owners who purchased in the suburb when it was first developed 15 years ago were now redecorating and upgrading things like kitchens and landscaping.
“People want a unique feeling, you’re taking pride in. We’re talking bragging rights,” he said, adding that the market was currently a sellers’ market as there was not enough listings for buyers looking in the area.
Q also said that investors had started looking in the area, buying both existing places for good yields, or new-builds directly from the developer Fletchers.
“People stay within the area and they want to look at new stuff as it comes on the market. It’s the confidence because Fletchers have done an amazing job growing the suburb into a community.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Stonefields
