A new townhouse development aimed specifically at Pasifika first-home buyers has found immediate success.
Two of the homes built by Greater Living were scooped up before they even hit the open market, and Ray White listing agent Pat Lapalapa believes it won’t be long before he finds buyers for the remaining five, which are on the market for under $600,000.
“The three-bedroom places went under contract within a week. They didn’t even make it to the market,” Lapalapa told OneRoof.
“We just reached out to our local contacts in the area. I do a lot of work with Pacific people. These are people who previously weren’t able to get their foot on the property ladder.”
Start your property search
The development, at 5 Fields Road, in Manurewa, is the brainchild of Samoan builder Shaun Greathead and his Māori wife Jahleh, of Ngāti Kahungunu, and was built through a now-defunct government scheme aimed at increasing Pacific home-ownership.
Discover more:
- Lockwood bach built by returning POW now has CV of more than $4m
- Auckland's new CVs: Which suburbs are at risk, which ones are in the money
- Couple quits Auckland in a heartbeat after finding historic Hawke’s Bay villa
Lapalapa told OneRoof that buyers who qualified were able to get into a home at an affordable price.
He declined to disclose the sale price of the two townhouses he sold off-market, but said it was about $50,000 below similar properties in the area.
The five two-bedroom homes he has listed on OneRoof have an asking price of between $550,000 and $599,000, with his marketing boldly declaring: “These will not last!”
Lapalapa said it was up to the developer to choose which Pasifika families qualified under the government scheme, but noted they had to be owner-occupiers, not landlords, and would have to live in the house for at least two years.
“We asked them questions around current family circumstances, whether they had [finance] pre-approval and it was based on need. It was quite hard,” he said of the families who had already bought.
He said they were already inspiring other Pasifika people looking at getting on the property ladder.
Samoan developer Shaun Greathead launched his company Greater Living to help Pacific people onto the property ladder. Photo / Supplied
The two-bedroom townhouses in the development are priced below $600,000. Photo / Supplied
Building houses for Pasifika families was more than just providing a roof over their heads, the Greatheads say on their website: it’s about community empowerment and financial literacy.
“Shaun is definitely committed to serving the Pacific community. What he’s doing is inspirational,” Lapalapa said.
Shaun and Jahleh had been working in Canberra, in Australia, when they decided to return to New Zealand in 2022. Shaun had his own building firm and Jahleh was qualified in interior design. They wanted their three children to reconnect with their homelands as well as build a business that fitted their values.
Their company, Greater Construction, picked up contracts for building 17 homes for Kāinga Ora, but they were keen to explore what they could do in the affordable housing market.
“Then it was understanding the Pacific community in South Auckland, amalgamating the experience I’d had from overseas for the use of materials and the methodology of building,” Shaun told OneRoof.
“So the homes are not only affordable to purchase, they’re also affordable to maintain.”
Shaun said he was looking to build a company with purpose. The timing was right for the Pacific Building Affordable Homes Fund, announced by the then Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio in late 2022.
Greater Living finalised the contract with the government in March 2023, which included meeting certain quality and typology standards and a likely sales price (although that price had shifted in 18 months to meet the current market, he said).
“Part of the principle for the development is for people to own their own home and take pride in what they’re living in, and, in turn, have a clean safe, community,” Shaun said.
The Pacific Building Affordable Homes Fund closed this year but Shaun said he had another project planned in Manurewa for more housing for Pacific people.
- The townhouses at 5 Fields Road, in Manurewa, are for sale at a fixed price; 3/5 Fields Road and 7/5 Fields Road have an asking price of $599,000; 4/5 Fields Road and 6/5 Fields Road have an asking price of $589,000; and 5/5 Fields Road has an asking price of $550,000
