Auckland’s median house value, now at $1.114 million, is a good gauge of what buyers can expect to pay for real estate in the city, but what does a budget of just over the magic million actually get?
In Auckland’s most expensive suburb, waterfront Herne Bay, buyers would most likely walk away empty-handed if all they had to spend was $1m, but in parts of South Auckland the same amount can buy a big family home with a backyard and views.
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A common refrain among agents selling in pricier inner-city suburbs is that $1.114m doesn’t buy all that much.
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Kellands agent Martin Dobson, whose patch covers Herne Bay and surrounding suburbs, says buyers armed with just over $1m would be limited to apartments.
“Ages ago I sold a two-bedroom apartment with a deck and views for about $1.5m, but that was two or three years ago. For that price now, you’d be talking a one-bedroom apartment without a view - if you’re lucky,” he says.
Ray White Remuera Steve Koerber says school zones can have an impact on the types of properties available for just over $1m.
In suburbs sitting outside Auckland’s valuable double grammar zone, $1.114m will just about cover a small cross lease townhouse with a shared driveway, but inside double grammar zone the smale amount would buy a small do-up unit without a garage.
Koerber is currently marketing a three-bedroom cross-lease bungalow in Remuera which has a 2017 CV of $1.18m. It is likely to fetch much more when it goes to auction on July 14.
This three-bed bungalow in Auckland’s Remuera has a CV of just $1m but is likely to sell above that figure. Photo / Supplied
“Anything like that is just so popular, so many people want them,” he said.
Bayleys agent Jonathan de Jong, who covers affluent Coatesville, in the city’s north west, and Mairangi Bay on the North Shore, says buyers are unlikely to find a property in either of these suburbs for just over $1m.
In Coatesville, which is largely lifestyle blocks, they might get a standard block of land for $1.114m but something with a house on it would be out of the question.
“Coatesville averages, I would have thought, from about $1.8m to about $6m,” he said. “We’ve just sold 18 blocks of land and they’ve ranged I think from the $950,000 right up to the $3m. That’s not even starting with a garage so you’re not going to get Coatesville for anything near that.”
And in Mairangi Bay anything new has a two in front of the million. “You’ll have to go to a pretty small attached to get around that $1.1m and I would say that even the small three-bedroom standard 700/800 metre blocks in Mairangi Bay are fetching anywhere between $1.3m and $1.6m.”
Buyers might be able to pick up a small concrete block unit built in the 1960s or 1970s for the $800,000 mark but it would be unrenovated and tired. “If they were done up they would probably look at gaining between $150,000 and $250,000 more,” he said, adding that new dual and triple-level attached townhouses are fetching between $1.8m and $2.5m.
Auckland waterfront properties are a no-go for those with budgets capped at just $1m. Photo / Chris Tarpey
Over in the city’s west, however, there are still choices for under the Auckland median.
Glen Wells, director of Ray White North West Centre, says areas like Massey are still affordable. “We’re coming into a spate of the infill and high-density stuff and when they come through you’ll probably be picking those up from mid $600,000s into late $700,000s.
“You’ve just got to look along Swanson Road, Universal Drive, all along Don Buck, all the infill, high density stuff coming on tap and that’s definitely making a difference.”
Wells says the Auckland average can sound scary but if people aren’t too stuck on a particular high decile school they can find affordable property in his patch for $1.114m and under.
“You’re going to get a range of older homes that might be a bit dated inside through to your new build, high densities which are not massive but you’re certainly picking up nice, modern, warm and comfortable properties,” he says.
“You’re just not going to have a big back yard which I suppose that’s the way of it today.”
Modern families seem OK with terrace homes and units, he says, and understand if they want a quarter acre section they have to move to outer suburbs or the provinces. “If you want city life and convenience we’re transitioning into a different expectation I believe for our families.”
And Wells says it is still possible to pick up a 1960s standalone home with a backyard from the late $800,000s – although probably only if the property isn’t suitable for development. “If it’s a property that’s desirable for development it’s just going to skyrocket but if it’s not desirable for development the reality is you can still pick up in the eights and early nines a desirable three bedroom family home,” he says.
In Auckland’s south, home to several suburbs with median values of less than $1m, buyers can get a nice family home for $1.114m.
This five-bedroom house in Manurewa, in South Auckland, is on sale for under $1m. Photo / Supplied
Manukau Heights, which has some of the best views of Auckland, offers buyers plenty of good options, says Adam Thomson, director of Ray White Manukau.
“You can get three to five bedrooms with garaging. In other parts of south Auckland you can buy a brand new five bedroom home for $900,000 to $1m.”
One example is a new four-bedroom house with a single garage on Rapoi Lane, in Papakura, which is on the market for just under $1m.
Another is a five-bedroom house with three bathrooms in Manurewa, which is also on sale for just under $1m.
Those homes don’t have big yards but options in some of the more established areas do come with a decent outdoor space, Thomson says.
“With the brand new ones, you’re looking at a small, easy care, no maintenance section. When you go brand new you sort of sacrifice your land size.”
And while the median house value for the whole country - $779,000 - might only buy a small unit or an apartment in other parts of the city that amount would still buy a house in the south, Thomson says.
“We still sell houses from between $500,000 to $700,000, you’re just getting into smaller sections, cross lease or a two bedroom or three bedroom unit,” he says.
But first home buyers are increasingly out looking with $1m mortgages, Thomson says. “It’s jumped a lot now. People used to be looking at the $600,000 or $700,000 range but a lot of people are up around that $1m now.”
Lesley Harris, from the First Home Buyers Club, advises buyers to keep a cool head.
While Auckland first home buyers definitely have the perception they need to arm themselves with bigger budgets, Harris points out that Auckland’s median value is made up of every suburb in the city, including the pricey ones.
“You still can get apartments (and terrace housing) so I don’t really want to say you have to have a budget of $1m for Auckland - it’s a matter of how flexible can you be to determine what sort of budget you’re going to need.”
