Auckland central property market primed for action

Ray White Auckland Central have good number of auctions scheduled in November, noting that declines in property prices in Central Auckland may be bottoming out.

Director of City Realty Group, Daniel Horrobin, says: “The decline in property prices we’ve seen in Auckland Central has slowed down and now seems to be around the bottom of the market. The just-released November Oneroof-Valocity House Price Report shows that the average property value in Auckland Central was only down 1% in the quarter to the end of October. 

“With the year-on-year change in average value in this area being -8%, this shows the decline has slowed down if not completely bottomed out. This compares to many Auckland suburbs outside the central city where average property values were down between 2.5% to 5% for the quarter. So, the central city is in a slightly different situation, primed for action.

“The consensus is that as inflation remains high, OCR rates will continue to rise fuelling higher interest rates. So for those buyers looking to buy at a competitive price but avoid future mortgage rate hikes now would be a good time to act. 

Reasonably priced properties remain popular in Central Auckland. This City Apartment market is predominantly driven by investors looking to achieve a good return on their investment, in a market which is well suited to deliver higher yields. Properties which are new builds have the added advantage of still having mortgage interest deductible against tax and not being subject to the brightline test when re-sold.

There is also interest in the mid-to-upper end of the market from owner-occupiers wanting to retain a city pad to complement the primary home.

“We have double the number of auctions scheduled for November than we did in October, which included Labour Weekend. This represents a good choice for buyers and a busy auction schedule is expected to encourage healthy competition.  The number of properties currently for sale in Central Auckland is in the mid-600s, so there is a decent amount of stock available.”

“Meanwhile there are high levels of inquiry for our rental portfolio and vacancy rates are going down. There is a third of the number of properties currently available to rent in Central Auckland as compared to a year ago. People have returned to the central city after Covid restrictions have loosened and investors are anticipating more demand with next year’s predicted jump in the number of international students and migrants.”

People have returned to the central city after Covid restrictions have loosened and investors are anticipating more demand with next year’s predicted jump in the number of international students and migrants.”