Units draw interest of first-time buyers
We’ve associated two-bed units with downsizers in the past, but these days they’re sought after by younger buyers,
When spatial designer Toni Brandso first started looking for a place to buy, she had a very clear picture in mind of what she wanted: a standalone home, with a garden, in the city.
While she didn’t have a lot of cash – her budget was about $500,000 in 2016 – she wasn’t ready to move out to the suburbs.
Brandso was 35, single, and enjoying life in the city, so her agent took her to a lot of places, before finally convincing her to take a look at a little two-bed unit in Sandringham, Auckland.
‘‘It was definitely not my dream, but she just talked me through it, told me what the opportunities could be, and that it was safe and secure, which suited me as a single person in the city,’’ says Brandso.
‘‘I guess I had to change my mindset. Because I wanted the city, I had to change what style home I was going for.’’
While it was musty and in need of a spruce up, it was open-plan, had two bedrooms and got morning and afternoon sun, so the whole unit was very light and airy. She could see the potential.
‘‘It ticked all the boxes I had, except it wasn’t standalone – but I couldn’t afford standalone.’’
What she could afford was the unit, and a little money to redecorate, which she spent the next year doing, eventually turning the musty old ‘‘granny flat’’ into a pretty, airy, bachelorette pad in the heart of the city.
In the past, units like Brandso’s, in a 60s block, close to public amenities, have been the preserve of downsizers, and elderly parents, perhaps after the kids had grown up and left home, or a partner has died and left them rattling around in the family home alone.
Some were expressly built as a kind of proto-retirement village – single-storey rows, or groups of duplexes, and sold as a cross lease, managed by a residents’ group or even a body corp. Sometimes the rules would stipulate an age limit – such as owners must be over 55 or 65. But now, it seems like the demographic of who buys units is changing.
‘‘First-home buyers are focused on getting into the market, and they are looking for affordability of money and time,’’ says Christchurch estate agent Leeann Marriott, of Harcourts Gold, who often has one- and two-bed units on her books.
One example, in Riccarton in Christchurch, which has been renovated to a high spec, has mostly had first timers coming through to see it, she says.
She puts this down to the price point compared to standalone homes in the same area. The average for the area is about $750,000, but this unit is on the market for $469,000.
In contrast, ‘‘there have been very few downsizers looking at the property,’’ says Marriott.
Units are a ‘‘good stepping stone onto the property ladder’’, says New Plymouth-based real estate agent Nikki Keegan, of First National, who has several on her books at the moment.
‘‘[Units] have found a new market, and now people have such busy lives they don’t want big homes. Or they’ve come from abroad and travelled, and they’ve realised they don’t need such a big space.
‘‘I have single people looking, mums with their kids looking because they’re separated, I have a young family, mum, dad, and a daughter [looking for a first home].
‘‘The price is good, and they won’t be stung with lots of maintenance issues, because they are relatively new and low maintenance.’’
First-time buyers know it’s important to get into in the market ‘‘rather than sitting to the side waiting for the next new market to arrive’’, so they’re snapping up what they can afford, says Marriott.
‘‘But be mindful of cross lease situations and what you are able to do and not do with such a lease. Some don’t allow for animals and some have age restrictions. You should also ensure the flat plan is representative of the actual layout.’’
Brandso sold her unit last year. She didn’t wish to share how much the property went for, but she said it did allow her to step up the property ladder into the kind of home she’d been dreaming about when she was first looking in 2017.
‘‘I’ve moved into a little standalone bungalow. It’s bigger, but not wildly bigger, and it has grass out the front and back and a deck, so it has that indoor-outdoor living.
‘‘The unit had that a little – I put a couch at the front when I owned it – but this has flow.
‘‘[The unit] helped me get to the next level, definitely. I think any property in Auckland would do that. It’s about getting a foot in the door.’’
‘‘[Units] have found a new market, and now people have such busy lives they don’t want big homes.’’ Nikki Keegan New Plymouth real estate agent