Source: Radio New Zealand
This three-bedroom home in Glenfield is advertised for $1.049m, just above the median first-home buyer price being paid in the area. Supplied/Screenshot
First-home buyers are paying the highest prices for their homes on Auckland’s North Shore, new data shows.
Cotality data for the last quarter of last year shows how much first-time buyers are paying around the country.
On the North Shore, first-home buyers paid a median $1.035 million.
Trade Me listings indicate that, at about that pricepoint, buyers could get a Mairangi Bay townhouse or a three-bedroom house in Glenfield.
Nearby Rodney was in second place at $987,000 and central Auckland at $975,000.
This three-bedroom house in Helensville is advertised at inquiries more than $950,000 just below the median Rodney price. Supplied/Screenshot
Queenstown came fourth at $938,750. Manukau was just after at $865,000, followed by Western Bay of Plenty at $850,000.
Trade Me said an increase in the number of properties available under $800,000 – the typical first-home buyer bracket – was a reason why the city’s average asking price dropped in its latest data update. Bay of Plenty had overtaken it as the most expensive of the regions for the first time in a long time.
Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said what buyers would get for for their money varied around the country.
“The median property in Auckland is different from the median in Invercargill.”
He agreed Auckland had more diverse property options, with 9 percent apartments, 17 percent townhouse and 70 percent houses.
Canterbury had 1 percent apartments, 18 percent townhouses and 74 percent houses.
The Cotality data showed the cheapest first-home buyer houses were in Whanganui, where people paid a median $469,000 and Invercargill, with a median $482,000. Timaru was only a little more expensive at $490,000.
This three-bedroom house is listed at inquiries more than $479,000, just above the median for Whanganui first-home buyers. Supplied/Screenshot
“We’re definitely still seeing first-time buyers very, very active,” he said. “You’d call them the dominant force in some ways.
“If you look at market share, the fourth quarter of last year was another record high, pushing up towards 28-29 percent of the market.
“First-time buyers have been strong for a long time – there’s nothing new there – but they just keep getting even stronger. They’re able to get in at reduced prices compared to what would have been the case 2-3 years ago.”
He said lower interest rates and more options were helping.
Banks were willing to lend to people with a smaller deposit too, he said.
“A lot of people are getting in with 15 percent or 10 percent, so it is not saying it’s easy. It’s never easy to buy a first house, but at the moment, first-time buyers are finding conditions in their favour and really making the most of it.
“Whether you look in expensive parts of the main centres or cheaper parts of provincial markets, it is pretty much across the board.”
He said that was probably because incomes varied for first-home buyers, too.
“Houses might cost more in Auckland or Tauranga, or markets like that, but the incomes will be higher too. Generally, housing affordability has improved and that’s helping first-time buyers into the market.
“In a place like Ashburton or Invercargill or Whanganui or wherever it is, maybe they can find that 20 percent deposit, whereas if you’re looking in, say, Auckland, you might be getting in with 10 percent, so that helps even out the numbers as well.”
For some buyers, paying a home loan was cheaper than covering rent.
“That incentive to get into the owner-occupier market is still pretty strong,” he said. “Yes, you’ll have extra costs of rates and insurance, and that sort of thing, but if you just look at a simple weekly living cost number, in many cases, it is going to be cheaper now to pay that debt than pay rent.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
