In the past people couldn’t get into Auckland’s Takapuna for under $2m but those days have changed, which bodes well for families and first home buyers.
The beach suburb is home to of the some of the country’s most expensive real estate, including New Zealand’s third most expensive home, a sprawling waterfront mansion on O’Neills Avenue that sold in 2017 for $28.8m.
But new developments on the edges of the suburb are opening up the housing market to price-conscious buyers.
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“We're seeing that $1.3 m/$1.4m will get you something within those Hauraki and Belmont areas,” says Harcourts Cooper and Co branch manager Jackie Parker from.
She says a nice side-effect of the Covid pandemic and associated lockdowns is the bringing together of generations of families in Takapuna, says Jackie Parker from Harcourts.
Young families who haven’t been able to cross borders are looking to move back to the same neighbourhood as their parents and grandparents to stay connected and the diversity of dwellings being built across a wide range of price points is allowing them to do just that.
Much change is afoot with last year’s Government National Policy Statement on Urban Development opening up more development options although no one knows exactly what that will look like, says the Takapuna branch manager.
The affordable Oneoneroa development in Belmont. Photo / Supplied
Already, people are prepared to sell homes with larger sections where a developer might put eight or 10 townhouses, though there will likely come a point when there is a saturation of that type of development, Parker thinks.
“I feel that people still want to have good living environments. We don't all necessarily need humungous homes but we do need to have that quality of home and I still believe great developers can build fantastic homes and at affordable price points.”
A case in point is the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Properties development Oneoneroa in Belmont, which has a price point for everyone and which is about creating community.
Buyers so far have been first home buyers and also first homers pitching in with parents to have a base there, families with children, and semi-retirees who no longer need a big beachfront house but who still want to be in the area so they can walk to the cafes and beaches.
“Oneoneroa is a great example of building and looking at a community long term rather than just short term and it will be quite interesting to watch that grow as it develops.
Takpuna is home is to some of the country’s priciest beach-front real estate. Photo / Fiona Goodall
“I think maybe more than anything Covid has shown us as we do crave that connectivity and creating of environments that have a community aspect to them.
“Takapuna has always had that, in terms of historically older families who have been ensconced in the area for generations and there is still the desire for that. We are seeing third and fourth generations wanting to come back to what they feel is their home stomping ground.
“They may not be able to get in at the top end but they still want to have that connectivity for friends, for family, for grandparents - I spoke to so many people during Covid who hadn't even had the ability with their first baby to show to their grandparents because they just couldn't do that crossing of the areas.”
Parker says Takapuna has got phenomenal schooling and a great lifestyle, which is what people are after these days.
“I think life-style, rather than style of living, is definitely what people are looking for. I feel maybe that craving for keeping up with the Joneses is no longer the environment we're in; we're keeping up with the life we want to live.”
Quality apartments are becoming more popular, too, especially with the 50-plus age group who want a lock up and leave lifestyle.
Takapuna’s main shopping strip. The life-style the suburb offers is popular with buyers. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Inquiries come from people who ask for a specific type of apartment and if none exist with what they want they then ask when one will be built, she says.
“They are trying to future-proof and are prepared to buy off plan knowing they have a couple of years then to sell and get everything in order.
House price growth in Takapuna has been strong. In the last three months of 2021, the suburb's average property value grew 9.6% - $224,000 - to $2.58m, according to the latest OneRoof figures.
The housing market in neighbouring Belmont and Hauraki has been similarly fast-paced, with both suburbs recording quarterly growth of around 9%.
Tom Kane, principal officer with Precision Real Estate, says the market at the higher end in Takapuna – where Precision average sales are around the $4m mark with some under that and some “massively over” - is steady and will likely stay that way in the year ahead.
“We don’t see any great price growth but we don’t see any great shrinkage either. Our market remains fairly constant.
“Occasionally it plateaus but in my experience of 20-odd years I haven’t seen decreases in that market, but I do see it plateau for a while and then it starts to go ahead again.”
Kane says Precision clients like to stay under the radar and while he said the highest sale last year was over $13m, he didn’t want to reveal more.
