$50k Apartment NZ's Cheapest 2024 Sale

Thursday, 12 December 2024, 6:22 am
Article: RNZ

Susan Edmunds, Money Correspondent

An Auckland apartment that changed hands in October for $50,000 was the cheapest sale of the year, Corelogic says.

It has released a report reviewing property sales in 2024.

While the priciest sale was a property on Victoria Avenue in Remuera once owned by Grant Dalton that sold for $20 million in March, the cheapest was a freehold Morning Star Place property in Auckland's Mt Albert.

With two bedrooms, one bathroom and one carpark, it might have looked like a steal at $50,000.

But the new owners were handed a bill of $80,000 to pay for remedial work for the building's leaky issues, and more bills were to follow.

All of the top 10 most expensive sales were in Auckland, including one lifestyle block on Waiheke Island.

The second-most expensive sale was John Key's former residence on St Stephens Ave in Parnell which sold for $16.3 million. Third was an Orakei Road, Remuera house sold for $12.8m.

Wellington's most expensive sale was a property on Ludlam St, Wellington, which sold for $4.55m. In Christchurch, the most expensive sale was on Whitewash Head Road, for $8.1m.

The most expensive suburb in the year was Herne Bay in Auckland, with a median value of $3.36m. Auckland suburbs were nine of the top 10 - St Mary's Bay was next with an $2.76m average value and Remuera third with $2.45m. Arrowtown was the only non-Auckland suburb in the top 10.

Herne Bay's median value lifted 4.3 percent over the year.

At the other end of the scale was Murupara in Whakatane, with a median value of $191,600. Murupara's median value was up just over 81 percent in five years.

"If you look at the markets that are fastest-moving, in terms of days on the market or time to sell, they tend to be a bit cheaper, with affordability a bit in favour of buyers," Corelogic chief economist Kelvin Davidson said.

"They tend to be the areas where values have risen the most in the last year or five years. Parts of Southland the West Coast, suburbs in Greymouth... they've tended to see some pretty substantial growth over the past year or five years.

"There are exceptions to the rule but affordability is playing a key role here."

Wallacetown, Southland had the fastest-moving market, with properties selling in seven days. Davidson said that probably reflected strong demand and limited supply.

Waimate, in contrast, recorded a median 83 days on the market.

"There are factors pushing in both directions," Davidson said. "Markets where values have gone up a bit more perhaps haven't had as many listings. That's been a big theme of Auckland and Wellington, listings have turned around a bit and switched in favour of buyers."

The labour market was still weak but interest rates might fall further. Debt-to-income ratios could be more of a factor next year, although Davidson said they were not likely to limit a large number of borrowers.

Blaketown in the Grey district had the most value growth over the year at 16.7 percent, while nearby Cobden had the strongest five-year gain up 108.8 percent.

Auckland Central had the sharpest five-year drop in median values, down 9.1 percent. Mataura Gore had the biggest drop over a year at 10 percent.

Nukuhau, Taupo had the fastest-rising rents, up 27.7 percent over the year while Kawerau's fell by 9.1 percent.

"For investors, cash flow might look a bit different but there might be more difficulty getting the loan in the first place," Davidson said.

Rental yields might look better in cheaper areas but there could be higher vacancy rates.

Davidson said what was seen as "bad" for some people -0 such as sellers who wanted to shift quickly - could be great for others, such as first-home buyers.

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