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This Port Albert property is listed for $595,000.
Wellsford, Port Albert and Te Hana may provide the best opportunities for first home buyers in the Auckland Region with the introduction of government grants.
Mike Pero Wellsford owner Denise Pearson says she often sells first homes to buyers who have moved from Auckland, as well as people looking for a lifestyle change after Covid-19.
Several of her recent listings have been under the $600,000 cap for the Government’s recently upgraded first home grant.
From this month, first home buyers are eligible for a grant of up to $5000 on existing houses up to a value of $600,000 in the Auckland region, or a $10,000 grant for new houses up to a value of $700,000.
Those earning less than $95,000 are also eligible for a home loan from a Government provider with just a five per cent deposit.
Denise says Te Hana in particular is a hot spot for first home buyers due to a significant number of cross lease properties which are more affordable.
One lot has 16 houses on it – a throwback to the days when a dairy cooperative was located in the town.
“Te Hana is really changing with the arrival of first home buyers doing up the houses,” she says.
Denise currently has a four-bedroom house listed in Port Albert on a 0.96 hectare property for $595,000.
However, Denise says that first home buyers need to be realistic about their expectations.
“Millennials want everything right away, but their expectations quickly adjust during the search process,” she says.
“You will have to paint the walls, change the carpets and redo the bathroom. It will require some work.
A first home is a starting point and you can make it into what you want, and work your way up to your next home.”
Denise says this is where home grants can be useful to fund renovations, rather than simply bolstering a deposit.
She says Wellsford still provides opportunities, although most are creeping above the $600,000 mark, especially as New Zealanders return from overseas due to Covid-19.
Properties in the new North Estate development in Wellsford are above the Government’s cap, starting from $750,000. But Denise says the Totara View subdivision is an upcoming opportunity likely to be leapt on by first home buyers.
Totara developer ReedMyers is advertising that it will be selling new three-bedroom plus houses on sections from 500 square metres from $529,000. A diagram shows 76 lots on the subdivision.
However, it is understood that developers have historically had difficulty obtaining titles for the subdivision, which is still green.
At this stage, Reed Myers is calling for registrations of interest.
