Passed over
The towns that missed the property boom
With property prices up 13.5 per cent yearon-year, Susan Edmunds asks: what room is left for further price growth?
New data from NZ Property Investor magazine has pinpointed the top 10 places where rapid capital gains are still happening - and the boom could be yet to hit.
Places such as Cannons Creek in Porirua, and Castlecliff in Whanganui top the list as firsthome buyers look to more affordable places to buy and investors turn to regions Auckland for a bargain.
But sought-after Hataitai in Wellington also features, as a shortage of listings has pushed up prices.
The magazine measured areas’ 12-month growth and compared it with the three months between March and May – then annualised that three-month figure.
This shows the areas of the country that are experiencing increasing growth in house prices.
It ranked the hottest spots as those with the greatest difference between the two figures.
Property commentator Olly Newland said there were still opportunities to buy at a good price.
He said areas north of Waiwera were still reasonably-priced, too, as were parts of Coromandel and the central North Island.
He said if he were in the market for a property at the moment, it would be somewhere outside Auckland.
Analyst Rodney Dickens agreed – he said he would still look to the Far North.
But he warned that landlords who tried to invest in far-flung areas of the country might find it harder to manage their properties.
Dickens said there should also be room for growth in Wellington as the economy and improving Government finances gave the region a boost. ‘‘Wellington has still got stuff going for it.’’
But David Whitburn, of Fuzo Property, said there were still opportunities in Auckland, too, if buyers knew where to look for them.
He said areas around the new NorthWest shopping centre were a good bet because of the amount of infrastructure being built there.
‘‘It’s an absolutely fantastic area and something you’ve got to take quite seriously.’’
Other areas he would look upon favourably included Flat Bush, which he said was a magnet for Chinese investors, and areas with sought-after schools.
Adviser Lisa Dudson said she had heard commentators say now was a good time to buy property in Christchurch.
The second-biggest city’s property market has flattened with prices up 3.6 per cent year-onyear.
‘‘You can’t buy things in Hamilton or Tauranga for what you can buy in Christchurch,’’ she said.
‘‘What’s going to have a better long-term future, Christchurch, which is the biggest city in the South Island or Tauranga where there’s not a lot of industry?’’
But she said investors should ensure they were making decisions with long-term goals in mind, not just looking for short-term gains.
‘‘Long-term investment is how the majority of people make their money..’’
Newland said he was not convinced now was a good time to be investing in property, at all.
‘‘Generally I think the housing market is reaching its top and whether I would actually invest for the sake of investing, I doubt it.
‘‘If I was going to invest it would be for a very long time. I think the end of the boom is in sight. Hopefully it will just flatten out.’’
Rising property prices are also putting the heat on tenants, especially in the regions surrounding Auckland.
While the median weekly asking rent in Auckland rose just three per cent over the past year, Waikato rents jumped 7.5 per cent, Northland ones 11.9 per cent and Bay of Plenty rents rose 16.7 per cent, TradeMe Property’s rental index showed.
‘Long-term investment is how the majority of people make their money.’ Lisa Dudson