Apartments and terraced houses are popping up all over Auckland. But one project is performing so well that other developers are trying to uncover its secret.
College & Mason in Mt Wellington's Stonefields is being developed by Nigel McKenna from the Templeton Group. McKenna is one of New Zealand's most experienced developers and has been responsible for projects like the well-known restaurant, hotel and apartment complex that lines the waterfront at Viaduct Harbour, Beaumont Quarter, Lighter Quay and the recent Chambers & Station heritage conversion. When it's complete, College & Mason will be home to 93 brand-new designer terraced homes, ranging from two to five bedrooms.
The sell-out town houses are available in two to five bedroom configurations. Photo / Supplied
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Stages one and two sold out in record time (stage two even had a waiting list), and 50 per cent of the third and final stage, which was only released a few weeks ago, is already under contract.
"I see a lot of projects all over the country and how they're performing in this current market, and without a doubt College & Mason is performing exceptionally high in inquiries and sales," says Suzie Wigglesworth, Bayleys' national director for residential projects. "A lot of developers have been asking us what Templeton is doing that they are not. Ultimately it comes down to design, suburb, price point and available stock." Wigglesworth says that while Stonefields has a lot of apartments and terraced homes, no one has taken a new development to market in the area for a long time so demand for this kind of housing is high.
Available housing stock is also low. When College & Mason first came to market, there were only 14 homes for sale in Stonefields, all of which were existing homes. The suburb is very popular, particularly among young families looking for good schools, and the design is well thought out, well specified, and appropriately priced for this market. "There aren't many examples of a development where the demand is at a level like this in such a good suburb."
Buying off the plan means buyers can lock in homes at today's prices. Photo / Supplied
Buying off the plans is becoming increasingly popular because it gives buyers a chance to secure a property in today's price market, without being priced out. "In Auckland's ferocious market, buyers are becoming increasingly frustrated at attending auction after auction and not being successful," says Wigglesworth. "There's a lot of fear that if they don't buy now, they might not ever be able to.
"Buying off the plans at a fixed price means they're not in competition with anyone else, and by the time they move in the value of their home will likely have increased too." The fact that they can't move in immediately hasn't negatively impacted interest either. "We were worried that the completion date (around 12 months) might be too far out for some people to wait, but it hasn't dampened demand at all. In fact, based on the interest so far, we're looking at a fast stage three sell-out too."
Bayleys agent Julie Quinton, who, along with Trent Quinton, is marketing stage three, says the Templeton Group has thought hard about liveability. "College & Mason has a good selection of, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom homes, which appeal to a good chunk of the market," she says. "Families with young children are interested in the larger homes, investors are looking at the two- and three-bedroom homes because they have a good rental return, and empty-nesters are loving the four-bedroom homes because there's room for the whole family. "This developer has thought carefully about the target market and designed a development that ticks all the boxes for a wide range of people."
The two-bed homes start from $970,000, three-bedroom from $1,315,000 while four-bedrooms are available from $1,430,000 and five-bedroom from $1,620,000.
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