Generation rent climbs new rung

Apartment living is picking up, as more first-home buyers look to get on the property ladder.

High-school teacher Danielle Myburgh, 31, and her partner bought the one-bedroom apartment they were renting in Auckland’s Hobsonville Point last October, after getting tired of the unreliability that came with renting.

‘‘In the past five years we had to move about four times because of our landlords suddenly deciding to hike the rent up or sell the house,’’ Myburgh said.

‘‘My commute to work is literally two minutes by skateboard and 10 minutes for my partner.’’

Myburgh said she could see herself living in the apartment for the long term.

‘‘I’m conscious of my environmental impact, so it’s great I can walk to work, and the apartment block uses reclaimed water.

‘‘There’s also green space within 800 metres of every apartment building.’’

The couple put their KiwiSaver funds towards the home, but it wasn’t all easy. Myburgh said on a teacher’s salary and her partner’s salary the couple could just get by paying off their $500,000 mortgage.

‘‘We don’t have kids and don’t have any plans for them in the near future. I suspect that if we did, this would have changed the equation massively. There is no way we would have been able to afford it if we had kids.’’

Andrew King, executive officer of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation (NZPIF), said apartments had become the first step on the property ladder for most first-home buyers.

‘‘First-home buyers aren’t and shouldn’t go for large houses – it’s unaffordable. Two-bedroom houses are great for couples in their 20s and 30s – even with a kid they have plenty of room,’’ King said.

‘‘Unaffordability and ‘generation rent’ has been drummed up in the media but getting your first home has always been hard.

‘‘In the 1980s, it was easy to get a deposit but interest rates were very high. Now it’s the opposite.’’

Auckland Property Investors Association president Andrew Bruce said empty nesters were still the most popular apartment buyers but with the convenience cityliving brought, millennials would soon beat them.

‘‘Apartments have gotten a bad rap in the past – ‘living in a closet’, ‘living in a shoebox’,’’ Bruce said.

‘‘New Zealanders just haven’t been exposed to apartment living in the past, but with growing commutes and apartments becoming an easier way to get in the property market, dense living will be the future.’’

Winter has cooled property prices across many parts of the country, with the national average asking price falling 0.6 per cent on May to $642,050, according to the latest Trade Me Property Price Index. The average house price for Auckland dipped 0.9 per cent on May to $910,250.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said townhouses, units and apartments were becoming increasingly popular in our biggest cities and more first-home buyers were opting for these properties as they needed a smaller deposit, were often close to town and required than a house.

The average asking price in Wellington stalled in June, falling

1.6 per cent on May to $580,450, but the average price for large houses in the capital grew 15.5 per cent in the last year to $924,800.

‘‘In Wellington, the average asking price for a unit increased an eye-watering 21.2 per cent annually to a new high of $377,000,’’ he said.

Jeffries said the Government’s KiwiBuild scheme could ultimately have a significant impact on the market if it hits its targets.

‘‘If KiwiBuild fulfils its potential we could see some changes to for sale and rent prices. Demand will ease in the first-home buyer segment, which will mean prices could reduce,’’ Jeffries said.

‘‘Then, if more Kiwis get their foot on the property ladder, that will free up stock in the rental market which may see the median weekly rent dip in some areas.’’

Townhouses were the most popular in Wellington last month on Trade Me.

Jeffries said nationally, townhouses and units both reached record average asking prices in June, with townhouses up a solid

8.6 per cent on last year to $623,650 and units up 6.5 per cent to

$445,950. less maintenance Luxury lodge Westhaven Retreat at the top of the South Island looks likely to become another overseas millionaire’s bolthole – with a price tag of $24 million.

It is one of the highest-priced properties of its type to come to the market. Overnight visitors pay nearly $1500 a night at peak season, with cheaper options closer to $1000 also available.

For comparison, one of the most expensive properties advertised during 2017 was a $33m house at Glenorchy. The Dotcom mansion at Coatesville sold two years ago for $32m, and billionaire Graeme Hart paid $24m last year for a home at Closeburn Station near Queenstown.

The Westhaven Lodge sits on a 329-hectare peninsula overlooking the Whanganui inlet on one side and the Tasman Sea on the other.

Luxury Real Estate director Terry Spice is marketing the property. Other featured properties on his website are selling for a lowly $5m to $7m.

Austrian-born couple Monika and Bruno Stompe bought the property 27 years ago but ill health has forced their retirement.

When they bought it there was only a small hut and woolshed.

They developed the 2732-square-metre luxury lodge, featuring twelve bathrooms, five lodge rooms and two suites for guests, plus an owner’s wing and manager’s apartment.

There are also staff quarters and a separate holiday home.

The Westhaven Peninsula has more than 8 kilometres of seafront with secluded beaches and distinctive rock formations, as well as the second largest nikau palm forest in New Zealand.

The coastline is protected as a marine and wildlife reserve.

The property has been enjoyed by three generations of the Stompe family. Bruno Stompe said that for the first 10 years they ran a small bed and breakfast, but saw more opportunity.

The lodge was built to reflect its environment, with the best views south of Farewell Spit in Golden Bay. The environmentallyfriendly vision is evident in the timber floors of teak and Tasmanian oak, and 100 tonnes of hand-split Otago schist in foyers, patios and entranceways.

Ceilings and interior joinery were made from recycled rimu and teak.

The owners also graze sheep, cattle and llamas, and have two working cattle and sheep yards, holding and shearing facilities, and an implement shed that can be used as a helicopter hangar.