Suburbs on the up in Auckland in the last three months include not only trendy Ponsonby in the inner city and Ostend on Waiheke Island but also the family suburb of Papakura to the south of the city.
Figures from the latest OneRoof-Valocity house price report show these suburbs registered a quarterly lift in their average property value for the first time in 12 months.
The lifts are small on paper but agents in the suburbs say their markets are definitely rebounding with families a strong driver.
In Papakura, where the quarterly rise was 1.3% to an average value of $845,000, Alex Dunn and business partner Ammy Multani from Harcourts say they have listed 13 properties so far this month and that’s “huge” given three or four listings a month is considered pretty good.
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Their vendors are mostly moving out of the suburb or Auckland itself and some are heading to Australia, but Dunn says there are buyers lining up to move in.
He says they had a “spectacular” auction result for a brick and tile family home in Twin Parks Rise which sold under the hammer this week for $1.25 million.
“We had 50 families come through that in the three weeks. It was a single-level brick and tile, four-bedroom GJ Gardner build – a very solid home on a big 600sqm section. A typical Kiwi family home.”
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The vendors had accepted a pre-auction offer of $1.1m but it took another 39 bids from among the nine registered bidders before the property sold for $100,000 over the CV, with a family the new owners.
Dunn says among the potential buyers being seen are people who have recently gotten residency who have saved hard while they have been waiting.
“I think this is the sort of area where their friends and family are living and so this is the sort of area where people like to buy and it's seen as an affordable area; it's up and coming.”
Colleague Harsh Kathuria agrees the area is on the move, saying a two-bedroom unit on Glengowan Place in Takanini sold in 10 minutes at auction last Tuesday in “crazy” bidding.
“Within the span of 10 minutes the bidding went from $600,000 to $730,000. We had four registered bidders for a two-bedroom unit, all of them were bidding.”
Harcourts Papakura principal Harsimran Singh thinks vendors have been holding off as long as they could but have become tired of waiting and have decided to get on with things.
“Owners are now well equipped with the information, they've seen what the market’s done over the last year/year and a half and how the market’s responding now is quite acceptable to owners.”
He thinks rather than seeing big price jumps there will be a gradual upward creep of prices as people realise the bottom of the market has passed.
Also on the up is the suburb of Ostend in the middle of Waiheke Island, where the data shows in the last quarter prices rose 1.1% to an average value of $1.413m.
A two-bedroom unit on Glengowan Place, in Conifer Grove, Papakura, attracted "crazy" bidding at auction. Photo / Supplied
This home on Wharf Road in Ostend, Waiheke Island, recently sold for $955,000. Photo / Supplied
Tobias Roebuck-Ward, of Waiheke Homes Real Estate, says families are showing a big interest here as well, coming from both outside the island and from around the island.
The location is great because it’s walkable to school, the supermarket and the local market on a Saturday and Natzka Bay is not far where there is a pontoon in the summer for swimming.
The uptick in interest is reflected in prices, he says, adding that there were three offers for a house on Wharf Road, which sold recently for $955,000.
He says he has two off-market listings in Ostend as well with offers on both of them at or above CV. While other parts of the island are selling around 6% under CV he says there seems to be a blip the other way for Ostend.
Another property in Calais Terrace recently sold and Roebuck-Ward says even during the boom it was hard to get people to the area but this property, which sold about eight weeks ago, had about five offers, all of them similar and strong, with the three-bedroom, two-bathroom property fetching $1.85m.
“No sea view, sort of looks down to the industrial zone, but everyone that offered on it really wanted it, it was really elevated, it got heaps of sun, and the central location, within five minutes you're either at the golf course, at the beach, at a bar or a restaurant or a vineyard.”
Also part of the attraction at the moment is low maintenance homes and that’s a change since the boom.
A three-bedroom home on Calais Terrace, in Ostend, Waiheke Island, attracted strong offers, and ended up selling for $1.85m. Photo / Supplied
A character cottage on Glen Brook Road, in Omiha, Waiheke Island, fetched $875,000. Photo / Supplied
Whereas people bought houses knowing they were paying above what the house was potentially worth during the boom, they had the fear of missing out and they also knew they could potentially add value, but people had moved away from that.
“I think most of the clients that I've got want something that you don't have to do work to.”
In Omiha (Rocky Bay) there is also strong interest. Roebuck-Ward recently sold a 100-year-old character cottage on Glen Brook Road, which he describes as “fabulous”.
The $875,000 sale price was over the $830,000 CV and there were three offers by people who all knew the house needed re-piling.
“Again, that one doesn’t have a sea view but right down at the end of Glen Brook Road is where you’ve got the village hall and the beach – the village hall on Saturdays and Sundays is completely pumping and the beach in summer is one of the nicest to swim at.”
Over in Ponsonby, prices are up a smidgeon, by 0.2% to $2.74m. Big sales such as that of a villa on Vermont Street, sold by Bayleys in March for $6.3m, can pull averages up, and there are also low stock numbers.
Ray White agent Elaine Ferguson had one of the few houses listed – a square-fronted three-bedroom villa on John Street with a two-car garage, which is rare for Ponsonby.
The house sold at auction last week for $2.306m, coming in under its CV of $2.65m.
A luxury five-bedroom villa on Vermont Street, in Ponsonby, Auckland, sold for $6.3m in March. Photo / Supplied
A three-bedroom home with a two-car garage on John Street, in Ponsonby, sold at auction for $2.306m. Photo / Supplied
Ferguson says buyers have come to terms that the bottom of the market has been and gone and vendors have accepted they are now getting the correct price.
“The vendors are accepting it and allowing properties to actually sell because we went for a long time where properties were just put on the market and withdrawn.”
She says more competition and more multi-offers are being seen, and says the low stock numbers are usual for this time of year, but adds that if more properties were for sale there would be buyers.
A lot of potential vendors are waiting for spring, however, wanting their house and garden to look their best.
“Adding to that, we've had so much wet weather that they haven't been able to get their gardens and houses looking the way they want them to look.”
Ferguson does not think there will be dramatic price increases any time soon, saying rather prices have stabilised.
“They’ve found their new level and owners have accepted that that's the new level, and so have buyers.”
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