House values in Pukekohe have dipped, like the rest of Auckland, but Barfoot & Thompson agent Diana Cussen says business is steady.
Cussen told OneRoof the once rural town at Auckland’s southern fringe “Pukevegas” because of the number of cafes and shops which have sprung up in line with a building boom that has attracted hordes of people to the area.
OneRoof’s data partner Valocity points to strong growth in new builds in the suburb. The fact a lot of new stock is still being completed keeps a lid on price growth, Valocity senior research analyst Wayne Shum said.
“You get price rises when there’s a shortage and in those areas there’s no shortage right now.”
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The latest OneRoof house price figures show the average property value in Pukekohe slipped 1.4% in the last three months to $911,000. That’s about the same as it was a year ago, but 32% up on five years ago.
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Cussen said more growth was coming. A lot was happening in Pukekohe and the surrounding suburbs: new subdivisions were coming on stream and the electrification of the rail network was near completion.
That latter will offer a fast line into Auckland’s city centre – a game-changer, Cussen said, explaining that shortened commute times will make the area more viable and attractive to buyers.
She said Pukekohe was already a vibrant and “generational-friendly” town, with new families with children living side by side with longer-term residents and older people from the retirement village.
Cussen, who has been selling in and around Pukekohe for 15 years, said the valley had changed considerably. “When I first started in real estate there weren’t so many nice houses around and in the last 15 years we have seen some lovely subdivisions,” she said.
“Up on Pukekohe Hill we’ve got beautiful subdivisions with 1000sqm sections and lovely $2m-plus homes.”
Lifestyle blocks had also grown in popularity with business owners and managers. Plenty of people worked from home these days, Cussen said, enjoying the lifestyle and location close to the Coromandel for holidays.
Houses in one of the new subdivisions that have sprung up in Pukekohe. Photo / Alex Burton
Sumei, an Asian fusion restaurant in Pukekohe. The town is attracting new eateries and has a fun vibe. Photo / Babiche Martens
“It’s a vibrant, active town and I don’t think a lot of people realise how cool it is until they actually get here,” Cussen said.
“It’s amazing how one couple buys something and their friends come out and visit and then they come and buy.”
The town is in the centre of the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga – getting to Hamilton only takes 40 minutes on the expressway these days, plus there is high employment in the area and a lot of home-based businesses in the countryside.
“There are all sorts of amazing businesses. I was talking to one couple – they’ve got a skincare business and in two years they’ve earned $500,000 net, not gross, and it’s just a little business they run from their house in Pukekohe.”
Cussen said the Franklin market had stabilised in recent months.
Agents had remained busy, with people upsizing, downsizing or moving sideways making up the bulk of the sales, and the first-home buyer market was also strong. “It’s just simmering away. People are still doing transactions for their own reasons,” she said.
She has a range of properties on offer, from two-bedroom ones in the $600,000 and $700,000s, to stunning $2m-plus homes. “We've got something for everybody. We’ve got everything in Pukekohe – it’s pretty cool really.”
A five-bedroom home for sale at 14 Fisk Road, in Pukekohe, Franklin. Photo / Supplied
Another lock-and-leave home for sale, at 7 Nanjing Road. Photo / Supplied
One home on offer is advertised as a home and income on Fisk Road, in the Hill area, which has five bedrooms and four bathrooms.
For sale by negotiation, the house has a CV of $1.55m and is being marketed as a multi-generational living home with “two homes in one”.
The property was designed by Pukekohe architect Jan Hurley with a one-bedroom flat downstairs, and there’s a five-car garage.
Another property is billed as being in Pukekohe’s Golden Mile.
This gated property is on a road which has some of the most tightly-held properties in the area, and is also on for price by negotiation. This one has a $1.35m CV.
A four-bedroom lock-and-leave house in the Anselmi Ridge area is also on for price by negotiation and OneRoof records show the property last sold in 2022 for $950,000, well above the $888,000 CV.
Cussen said nearby Drury – which is undergoing major development with a population the size of Napier being planned for – will also add value to Pukekohe in time.
“It’s going to change the way you shop because you can just go to Drury rather than Sylvia Park. The city’s facilities are coming to Pukekohe, which is just fantastic.”
The electrification of Pukekohe's rail line is continuing at pace. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Shum said Pukekohe was up and coming, but pointed out that the Drury future plan outline had a way to go, with the development taking place over 20 or 30 years.
Building new towns was slow-going, he said. “It takes a long time for these things to happen. Botany didn’t happen overnight – it happened over a decade or two.”
Looking ahead, though, values in Pukekohe and Franklin could rise because Drury was going to be such a big centre, he said.
Kiwi Property, which operates Sylvia Park, is building much of the 53ha Drury development.
The new town will feature high-speed transport links to the CBD, and the company said the Drury region was expected to become home to 60,000 people over the next 30 years, with commercial, retail and residential precincts.
The development is being completed in phases, with the earthworks and civil works phase underway to enable the creation of super lots for housing.
Reece Prewett, business owner and principal of Ray White Pukekohe, said because infrastructure was being paid for upfront the development of Drury would be a slower burn, but eventually the new town would be a positive for Pukekohe, which will remain on the outskirts.
While Drury will offer new shops and variety, Prewett points out Pukekohe already has mega stores and plenty of restaurants, cafes and supermarkets.
And demand for property in Pukekohe was picking up big time, just in time for spring.
The increased demand has not lead to a shift in prices, but sales and volumes have jumped. “Our July month traded up about 90% higher than June – that’s huge.”
Prewett said vendors were more inclined to meet the market than they had been, finally going: “Yep, I need to sell and move on.”
Another reason for the jump was that buyers were sensing prices had reached the bottom. “Because interest rates are going to start dropping next year so the buyers are going ‘I might as well buy now’. The price drops have ceased.”
While the market has “absolutely” started to move, Prewett was still cautions.
“One swallow doesn’t make a spring. I don’t want to call it as such but certainly July has traded significantly higher than June, and previous months as well.”
He, too, said Pukekohe offered a great range of properties, including plenty of affordable homes in the range of $750,000 and $850,000. “We get a lot of first-time buyers, a lot of upsizers. It’s a place, I think, for people to escape a bit of the hustle and bustle of the city and have a bit of space around them.”
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