ANALYSIS: Remuera is one of the most expensive locations to buy real estate in New Zealand. It’s an elite suburb, home to many of Auckland’s rich-list families.
Buyers shopping in the suburb should expect to pay north of $2 million for a home (according to the latest OneRoof figures, the suburb’s average property value is $2.727m, up 20% over the last five years), but there are Remuera homes that cost significantly less.
The expensive streets and big sales tend to get all the attention, which will leave many with the impression that Remuera is only for the rich and famous. But recent sales data shows some Remuera homes have sold for under $1m.
Discover more:
Start your property search
- $1 billion hot spots: What it costs to live near the beach on fantasy island
- 'Where else can you walk around naked?'- in the middle of nowhere and for sale
- Entry-level homes in Auckland $200,000 cheaper - 'sellers want to make deals'
So, where are the cheapest streets in Remuera? Where might you snag a bargain?
Of the 21 Remuera streets with five or more settled sales in the last 12 months, the one with the lowest median sale price is Monteith Crescent, outside of the suburb’s prized double grammar zone and close to lower-priced St Johns and Ellerslie.
The median sale price for Monteith Crescent over the last 12 months was $1.2m – about 75% less than the $4.8m median sale price on Remuera’s most expensive street, Victoria Avenue, which is very much in grammar zone.
Unsurprisingly, it’s not just the street name and location that makes the difference. The houses on Remuera’s cheaper streets are smaller and less luxurious than the houses on the expensive streets.
Many of the homes sold on Monteith Crescent were two and three-bedroom units (the cheapest was a two-bedroom unit that sold for just $730,000).
That will surprise some people. Yes, some people have bought a two-bedroom unit in Remuera for under $750,000. That’s well below the suburb’s overall median sale price of $2m over the last 12 months.
Opes Partners resident economist Ed McKnight: "The house on Remuera's cheaper streets are smaller and less luxurious than the houses on the expensive streets." Photo / Fiona Goodall
In second and third place of the most affordable streets are James Cook Crescent, which is close to lower-priced and apartment-heavy Newmarket, and Green Lane East, which is a busy road that serves the Southern motorway. They have a median sale price of $1.22m and $1.35m respectively.
A quick look at a map of Remuera shows that the suburb’s more expensive streets are closer to the water and the main shopping strip. Victoria Avenue, for example, runs from the harbour up to the central village.
The cheaper streets tend to be on the outskirts of the suburb, closer to lower priced suburbs, such as Ellerslie or Newmarket. If you lived on Monteith Crescent, it’d be faster to drive to the supermarket in Stonefields than the New World in Remuera.
It’s important to note that this analysis is only based on the properties that sold over the last 12 months. Properties that come to market aren’t always the same. So, if you’re property shopping in Remuera, it’s not a given you will find the cheapest property in Monteith Crescent. But this data can tell you where you might find the bargains.
- Ed McKnight is the resident economist at property investment company Opes Partners
