Murrays Bay and Devonport on Auckland's North Shore are the city's best-performing suburbs since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, new figures show.
OneRoof’s new index, created by its data partner Valocity, showed that property values in more than a third of Auckland's suburbs were above or the same as values on March 25 - the day before the country went into an eight-week lockdown that put the brakes on the housing market.
House values in 178 Auckland suburbs were down on March 25 levels. Manukau, Waitakere Rodney and North Shore had the biggest share of falling suburbs while Papakura and Franklin had the biggest share of growth locations.
READ MORE: Where Covid-19 hit Auckland house prices the hardest
Start your property search
Despite overall values slipping on the North Shore, Murrays Bay and Devonport defied the trend and posted the city's biggest value lifts since March 25 - 10.9 percent and 9.9 percent respectively.
Both suburbs had enjoyed above average growth in the six months leading up to March 2020, but had surged after the market came out of lockdown.
The next biggest Auckland risers on the index were: Blockhouse Bay (+9.8 percent); Pakuranga (+7 percent); Beachlands (+6.7 percent); Weymouth (+6.6 percent); Mount Wellington (+6.5 percent); and Mangere (+6.1 percent).
James Wilson, director of valuation innovation at Valocity, says the spike in property values in Murrays Bay was being driven by an increase in buyers relocating to the beach suburb and paying a premium for the limited stock there.
“Movers appear to have confidence in the market and are re-entering it with some hype,” he says.
Wilson says buyers perceive homes in the middle and top price brackets in Murrays Bay as more affordable than their equivalents in neighbouring Takapuna, although the median value for both suburbs is roughly the same.
READ MORE: Find out if your suburb is rising or falling
"Those who can’t afford to buy in Takapuna look to Murrays Bay," Wilson says.
There has been a similar surge in activity in Devonport, although affordability is unlikely to be a driving factor there.
Time for an upgrade
Devonport's median property value is $1.67 million but the classic villas for which the suburb is known typically sell for $2 million-plus, with one high-end example recently selling at a Bayleys auction for $4.19 million - $1.2 million above its CV.
Devonport had second best growth in Covid index and is up just shy of double-digit rise in value since March 25 with its median value sitting on $1,670,000.
Harcourts Cooper and Co owner Martin Cooper, whose agents sell in both suburbs, puts the growth down to Aucklanders revaluating their living arrangements and requirements during the lockdown and deciding that it's time for an upgrade.
13 Oxford Terrace, Devonport, Auckland, fetched $4.19 million at auction. Photo / Supplied
He says Murrays Bay has a lot of larger family-style homes while Devonport offers more high-end villas.
“A lot of [wealthier Aucklanders] won't be travelling overseas business class so they have a lot more money to spend and during the lockdown they will have realised that home is the most important thing,” he says.
Competing with locals buyers and bumping prices are returning expats, he adds.
Better than expected
Real estate agents operating in Blockhouse Bay say the central Auckland suburb is popular with movers and first home buyers, the biggest buying group city-wide since lockdown.
The suburb's median value is just shy of $1 million, putting it in the sweet zone for both buyer groups.
Chris Dever-Young, branch manager of Barfoot and Thompson Blockhouse Bay, says everything and anything has been selling in the suburb since the market came out of lockdown.
“The property market here is better than we expected. It’s absolutely unbelievable considering what’s happening in the world right now,” she says.
Blockhouse Bay is third strongest growth suburb in Auckland tsince March 25. Photo/ Supplied.
“When people can’t get what they want in the city they tend to look at Blockhouse Bay and move here. It’s unusually something unknown and they’re surprised how actually close to the beaches they are."
Long overdue
Affordability is also driving strong value growth in Pakuranga, Weymouth, Mount Wellington, Mangere and Wattle Downs.
Raymond Mountford, Bayleys' regional GM for South and East Auckland, isn't surprised by Pakuranga's performance post-lockdown.
He says the suburb had been long undervalued by buyers but new transport links and commercial developments had made it more desirable.
“It has been underestimated for a while and I am not surprised we’re finally seeing a lift. People are suddenly thinking, ‘It’s not a bad place to get to so while we can still afford it let’s get in there’,” Mountford says.
Mountford says the growth in Beachlands can be attributed to buyer desire for larger sections and bigger homes.
"Since the lockdown premium lifestyle residential areas have been more attractive as buyers want more space and bigger back yard."
