45,000 homes for sale
Summer’s over, but a lot of summer stock is still on the shelf. In the three months to the end of March, just over 35,000 new residential listings appeared on OneRoof – up 7% on the same period last year. Total listings for New Zealand have hit near-record highs, but it’s unlikely there are 45,000 Kiwis out there just waiting to buy them. In Auckland, the rush to sell has seen the number of homes up for grabs top 15,000.
Around half of the city’s listings sit under the magic $1m mark, which is good news for first-home buyers. They have lots of options and can lock in finance at a favourable interest rate. But sales aren’t keeping pace with the amount of stock coming to market, so vendors should think hard about their competition and pricing.
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Unfortunately, this is one of those times when the market tells you your home may be worth less than you think it should be (just as during the boom, buyers were left disappointed when the houses they set their hearts on sold for much more than some valuations suggested).
The number of homes on the market has swelled over the summer, giving buyers more choice and power. Photo / Fiona Goodall
The upshot to all of this is slower price growth, as Tony Alexander notes in his OneRoof column this week: “Something is clogging the works, and that thing seems to be a continuing high unwillingness on the part of vendors to meet the market. Too many people believe they can achieve the ridiculously high prices seen during the pandemic when interest rates were at record lows, money flowed freely, and buyers were in a frenzy.”
More bang for your buck next to Graham Hart
Buyers looking for the next step up in Auckland may do well to check out the listings in Glendowie, the eastern bays suburb that’s home to billionaire Graham Hart and other rich-listers.
Ray White agent Sandy Hayer tells OneRoof there are more than a few high-end listings with price expectations well below the $10m mark that some buyers wrongly assume is the starting point for homes in the suburb.
This five-bedroom home on 487 Riddell Road, in Auckland’s Glendowie, has an asking price of $5.499m. The listing agent says the suburb is home to many hidden gems. Photo / Supplied
She has one five-bedroom home at 487 Riddell Road with an asking price $5.499m. That’s a lot of money but more than $1m below the RV, and a lot less than equivalent homes in neighbouring suburbs.
“Compared to St Heliers or Remuera you’re going to get a lot more land for your money, and it’s going to be quieter, a lot more peaceful. The same home would easily be $2m to $3m more expensive in St Heliers,” Hayer told my colleague Catherine Smith.
“I’m getting buyers from all across Auckland, from east to west, buyers looking for more value for money.”
Also on the market in Glendowie is this legacy estate owned by former NBR publisher Barry Colman. Photo / Supplied
Also on Riddell Road is Hart’s waterfront estate, which has an RV of $52m, and the mansion being sold by former NBR publisher Barry Colman for $18m.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen, who also sells in Glendowie and St Heliers, says there are some “incredible properties down long private driveways that nobody knows about” on Riddell Road. “You don’t even know they’re there unless you’re on a launch out at sea. These are big, world-class properties.”
He also agrees with Hayer on the price difference. “To be on the St Heliers side, you’d be paying 10% to 15% more to be seen, or to have a flat walk to the village.”
When you could buy a house in Herne Bay for $21,000
Sticking with top-end suburbs, this listing in Herne Bay did catch my eye this week. It’s not a mansion but a modest three-bedroom villa.
One of the owners, Tangi Folau, told OneRoof reporter Diana Clement that her parents, Ekuoti and Tiueti, bought 35 Albany Road for $21,000 in the 1970s. The property now has an RV of $3.85m, but Harcourts agent Carmen Holder is asking buyers to ignore that number and view the property as a do-up opportunity.
Inside 35 Albany Road, in Herne Bay. The property still features touches from the 1970s. Photo / Supplied
Tangi said her father came to New Zealand from Tonga because her sister had a hole in her heart and needed urgent treatment. “A charitable organisation funded their trip to New Zealand,” she said. “She underwent operations that saved her life, but the doctor said she could not live in Tonga because of the climate.”
Once Ekuoti landed a job in Auckland as a carpenter, the rest of the family followed. “We were living in Ponsonby, and then my dad saw 35 Albany Road and bought it with the help of my auntie for $21,000, I think,” she said.
“It was split into two flats and there was a single toilet outside.” Ekuoti enclosed the front veranda and built additional dwellings out the back surrounding the toilet. Those extra rooms housed Tangi’s uncles, their cousins, and other extended family members.
The house is being sold by the late owners’ children. Photo / Supplied
Since the Folau family bought the home in 1976, four generations have lived there. Tangi is the only member of the family who has lived there continuously.
Tangi said she always promised her mother that she wouldn’t sell the home while her parents were still alive (Ekuoti died in 2000 and Tiueti in 2022). The proceeds from the sale are to be divided among the couple’s seven children.
Did Hollywood get the beach?
Finally, I can report the sale of OneRoof’s most viewed listings this year – a large block of land with some 560m of deserted Pacific Ocean beachfront on Matakana Island, in the Bay of Plenty.
PGG Wrightson agent Andrew Fowler said the 37.63-hectare property had sold for just above its $1m price indication.
Billed as the ultimate beach retreat, this 37.6ha block of land on Matakana Island sold for just over $1m. Photo / Supplied
He told OneRoof earlier this year that the listing had attracted the attention of some Hollywood heavyweights, although he declined to name names. “I’ve had all sorts of interest – Kiwis coming home, movie producers, some very famous people. They’ve all been looking to buy a piece of paradise.”
Despite the overseas attention, the buyer wasn’t from Beverly Hills but the local area.
- Owen Vaughan is editor of OneRoof.co.nz. You can contact him with any property tips or story ideas at owen.vaughan@nzme.co.nz
