REINZ Data Reveals Kohimarama Is Leading Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs Post-COVID Housing Revival

Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs – prized for their million-dollar homes, views of the Waitemata, leafy suburbs, good school zones and easy access to the CBD – saw prices flatten off after the market peaked in March 2017. However, new data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has shown that the majority of the Eastern Suburbs are now experiencing a post-COVID revival.

Leading the revival was Kohimarama, which has seen an uplift in median prices of 46.2% since the same time last year with median prices going from $1,385,000 for the 3 months ending June 2019 to $2,025,000 3 months ending June 2020.

Vying for second place was Glendowie with a 37.0% uplift in median prices from $1,350,000 to $1,850,000 and Parnell with a 36.7% increase from $1,035,000 to $1,415,000.

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ says: “With lots of Kiwis coming home from offshore locations due to the global effects of COVID-19, we’re seeing an uplift in demand for properties that ‘tick all the boxes’ from a family perspective. Key on the list is being close to the beach, playgrounds, parks, having a decent backyard but still being practical in terms of access to the City and being in a good school zone - Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs seems to tick most of those boxes.

“As we’ve seen in numerous media articles over the last few months, good properties are receiving multi-offers and auctions are having multiple bidders competing for properties which will be helping to push up the prices in the area,” continues Norwell.

“We’ve also seen an increase in the number of luxury apartments built in Remuera, Mission Bay and Orakei with high-end fixtures and fittings for those looking to retire or downsize. This will have had an impact on the overall increase in median price too with people looking to stay in the area for as long as they can,” points out Norwell.

The analysis also found that a couple of suburbs we still yet to catch up in terms of a post-COVID price uplift with both Mission Bay and Stonefields still not seeing a price uplift from the same period one year ago.

“A deep-dive into what’s happening in Mission Bay and Stonefields just revealed a shift in property type with more townhouses being sold in Mission Bay and more apartments being sold in Stonefields – both of which tend to be at a lower price point than stand-alone residences. We would expect these two suburbs to catch up to the rest of the Eastern Suburbs in the coming months,” concludes Norwell.

Eastern Suburbs median price data for the 3 months ending Jun ‘20 v 3 months ending Jun ‘19 v 3 months ending Jun ‘17

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