It has always been the Kiwi dream to buy a brand new home. No-one has ever lived in it, you have guarantees, and chances are you’ll need to do virtually nothing to it for 10 years. What’s more, it smells and feels brand spanking new.
If that’s you and you aren’t in the million-dollar-plus bracket there is still hope. Herald Homes asked real estate agents and group builders what they have on the market for less than the median Auckland price of $865,000. Quite a lot it turns out.
Just ask Gillian Campbell, research analyst at Barfoot & Thompson. She says $865,000 being the median house price means half of homes in Auckland are priced less than that. A good number of them are brand new. They range from studio apartments to five bedroom houses, all for less than the median house price.
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Barfoot’s offerings of new properties priced beneath the median start with 22 apartments in Albany. By no means are all the agency’s lower priced homes apartments, which come with body corporate charges and higher loan to value ratios.
At the other end of the scale it’s possible to buy a five bedroom brand new home, with three bathrooms, two living rooms and a study in Naylors Drive Māngere for less than the median house price. Barfoot is also selling five bedroom new homes in Papatoetoe, Manurewa, and Pukekohe as well as numerous four and three bedroom properties across Auckland.
If you want a new house and land package on freehold land for the median house price you’re very unlikely to find it in the likes of Ponsonby, Takapuna or New Lynn, although properties do come up on brownfield sites or in apartment buildings from time to time.
There are, however, options in established suburbs. Bayleys, for example, is selling freehold apartments at 340 Onehunga Mall, due for completion in mid-2019. The building has 42 high quality apartments in a three level building, which avoids the high rise feel. Lobby spaces are shared by a handful of owners, providing a community feel.
You can also pick up a brand new terraced home in Onehunga for less than the median house price. For example Colliers International has three terraced houses available at Onehunga Bay Terraces for less than $865,000. These are 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom west facing homes of 144sq m including balcony. They also have a garage and single car park. The properties are freehold, but have a residents association to maintain the grounds with an annual fee .
The Element building for sale through Bayleys is in a more central area than most new builds. It’s 550m from the Ellerslie “village”, walking distance to the train station and close to the motorway for quick access to work or the city.
All the main real estate chains and many group builders have properties for sale in the Hobsonville Point redevelopment. One example is Airfields Quarters, which has just come on to the market through Bayleys. Quarter One has a number of property types, which include Avro two bedroom terrace properties priced in the low $700,000s. Even some of the Curtiss three bedroom terraces in Quarter One are selling for less than $865,000.
The nearby Bernoulli Gardens development, being built by award winning Ockham Residential starts at $535,000 for a 55sq m apartment. Ockham is well known for popular buildings on the city fringe in suburbs such as Grey Lynn and Eden Terrace.
Bayleys’ Suzie Wrigglesworth says many of the homes in Hobsonville are typical of a new trend where developers are ensuring their product is affordable. “Developers are starting to address affordability with product at the right price point.”
Many brand new homes are being sold direct by developers and builders such as Stonewood Homes and Fletcher Living.
Fletchers, for example, has 13 homes for sale currently under the Auckland median and has apartments from $454,500. Brand new terrace houses and duplexes start from $785,000 in Swanson. In Hobsonville Point a similar size property is priced at $835,000, and Fletchers has other offerings in comparable price brackets in Whenuapai, and Kōwhai Ridge.
For those willing to live out at the likes of Millwater, Pōkeno, or Huapai, there is a lot more choice in the bottom half of the market below the median house price.
Although outside Auckland’s official boundaries, Lakeside in Te Kauwhata has been bringing in buyers from across the Auckland region, says Wrigglesworth. Freehold detached two bedroom homes start at $499,000 and three bedrooms from $569,000.
Wrigglesworth says one buyer is moving his business from Albany to Manukau, which will mean a realistic 35 minute commute to work from Te Kauwhata. One 20-something first home buyer she spoke to plans to move from Long Bay to the new development because he earns too much to qualify for KiwiBuild yet still needs something affordable.
