When you think about the Auckland apartment market, you probably have a vision of tiny shoeboxes, often plagued by problems. However, things are finally changing, and changing quite dramatically. City Sales apartment agent Scott Dunn says apartments used to be an investor staple, so there were few decent sized, owner-occupier suitable options around.
But as housing supply has become increasingly stretched, particularly at the affordable end of the market, there has been a big shift in perceptions around apartments. “This, along with downsizers and returning Kiwis used to living in them in big cities overseas, has led to a change in buyer types and an increase in demand from owner-occupiers.”
The result is the range of apartments available to Aucklanders has become far more diverse, with new blocks being built in the CBD, on the city fringes and stretching out into suburbs as far as Manukau in the South and Orewa in the North.
Scott says studio and one-bedroom apartments no longer dominate the sector. Now, there are plenty of two- and three-bedroom apartments aimed at owner-occupiers. “They are more spacious, more liveable even for families and often more elegant. And, with Auckland’s median house price now at $1.15 million, the apartments you can buy with less than that are pretty sexy. There are great options out there now, and the more people see, and are aware of, what is available, the more they will want to investigate further.”
It is also becoming easier to borrow to buy them, with ANZ recently increasing its willingness to lend on apartments as small as 38 square metres. Bearing all this in mind, Auckland has a wide variety of options on offer in the apartment space for buyers across the price and suburb spectrum.
Finally, thanks to Auckland’s Unitary Plan and the push for densification, apartment developments in the suburbs are also taking off, so for more information on property management Auckland and new apartments Auckland please go to http://www.citysales.co.nz .
