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All suburbs on the Hibiscus Coast now have a median property value of more than $1million highlighting that, despite the amount of development, first home buyers still face an enormous challenge to get on the property ladder here.
On the other hand, those who already own property have cause to see the ongoing price gains, despite Covid-19, the snap lockdown and border closures, as positive.
The figures are in financial services company CoreLogic’s Mapping the Market report, released last month. The report uses an automated valuation model to measure the median value of every residential property in NZ, every week – a method CoreLogic says provides a highly accurate view of how property values change over time. The data provides a useful tool when it comes to estimating the cost of a typical property in a particular suburb.
The report maps the percentage increase in value over 12 months – describing it as a “broad-based and frankly rampant upturn”.
A year ago, only the lifestyle blocks and farms of Dairy Flat, along with residential property in Silverdale/Millwater and Matakatia, had a median value of more than $1m. Since then, the increasing value of property has tipped the other nine local suburbs over the $1m median mark. The biggest gains were in Stillwater, with a 24.9 percent increase, Manly and Hatfields Beach (23 percent); and Ōrewa, 22 percent.
It brings the Coast in line with the Auckland-wide figures. Only 37 Auckland suburbs, of a total of 208, have a median value of less than $1m.
Local real estate agents say the current Covid-19 outbreak and Auckland lockdown proved surprisingly busy. Sue Donoghue of Bayleys says a lot of buyers used lockdown to search for property online and assess its suitability sight unseen.
Harcourts Todd Cooper says his company sold a number of properties during Level 4, sight unseen and Bayleys agent Janne Adams says Level 4 was busy and there was an atmosphere of panic that made certain buyers willing to purchase properties they had seen only online.
Raewyn Jonkers of Quest & Co says Covid-19 did not deflate sales in Dairy Flat. She says August saw the largest number of sales for the year, and a continuing upward trend fueled by the Future Urban zoning.
Demand is outstripping supply as vendors wait for certainty before putting their place on the market.
“The spring surge has just been delayed. We expect a big bounce in market activity and listings once Level 2 is reached,” Donoghue says.
Mapping the Market: https://bit.ly/3mwe0Sr
Leaving Auckland behind
However, many are keen to leave Auckland’s million dollar median suburbs behind. According to realestate.co.nz, the number of Aucklanders searching for property in other regions went up 5.9 percent since the Delta lockdown began. The rise was negligible at the start of the lockdown, but as the weeks went on, the numbers rose. The online company’s chief executive, Sarah Wood, says the increase represents about 230,000 Auckland users of the site that are looking to buy elsewhere. She says other contributing factors are record high asking prices and more people able to work from home. “But there is no doubt that being in Auckland has meant a life of restrictions since last April, so it’s no wonder some are looking to leave,” she says.
