Complex misses the price mark, says expert
A new 58-apartment development in the pricey eastern suburbs of Auckland claims to be more affordable, but a mortgage expert says it will appeal to only a small number of first-home buyers.
The Soto apartments will be built in a special housing area on the Remuera ridgeline by the end of 2019.
The site on Meadowbank Rd will feature a six-storey building and seven standalone three-storey ‘‘pavilions’’ bordering a central park that all units look across.
Developer Southside Group managing director Cary Bowkett said apartment prices would range between $620,000 and $4 million.
The average sale price of a three-bedroom property in the eastern suburbs in August was $1.3m, according to real estate agency Barfoot & Thompson.
Seven apartments would be priced at about $620,000 for firsthome buyers, Bowkett said.
The one-bedroom apartments ranged in size from 58 square metres to 76sqm plus a balcony.
Auckland mortgage adviser David Windler said the apartments were ‘‘not necessarily’’ the sort of property first-home buyers were looking for. Buyers would need a joint income of at least $100,000 to be able to service a mortgage on even the smallest apartments, and have no children, Windler said.
‘‘It’s a pretty small demographic that might suit.’’
Most of his clients were still after a three-bedroom ‘‘bogstandard Kiwi home’’, and those looking at apartments usually wanted to live in the city to reduce commuting and parking costs.
But the new development meant first-home buyers would be exempt from the 20 per cent minimum deposit under the Reserve Bank’s loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions. Windler said finding a deposit for properties has been the ‘‘biggest challenge’’ for first-home buyers.
The complex was designed by Auckland architecture studio Monk Mackenzie.