Mission Bay is among the suburbs that have edged into the exclusive million dollar club, according to the latest listings from Quotable Value which show that average residential property values in the beach suburb is estimated to be $1.01 million, a 2.4% increase in the three months to 30 June and an 11.2% rise from two years earlier.
The most expensive suburb is Herne Bay with an average price of $1,698,333, followed by St Mary's Bay at $1,389,667, Parnell at $1,243,556, Takapuna at $1,078,444, Stanley Pt at $1,055,667, Remuera at $1,023,722, Epsom at $1,018,389 and Mission Bay at $1,010,056.
The three month increase reflects what QV and real estate firms say is a strengthening market in many central suburbs, despite continued weakness in much of the country.
‘Anything in Mission Bay around $1 million, you can be assured we will sell it straight away,’ said Veronica Schoonraad, a local Barfoot & Thompson real estate agent.
‘Properties around $1 million at the moment are like hot cakes. It's very, very easy to sell properties around that, as long as they are not difficult such as plaster homes, which people were now conditioned to suspect were leaky, even if they were perfectly good properties,’ she added.
Mission Bay joins seven other Auckland suburbs with an average property value of more than $1 million, although averages can mask wide variations. But Devonport has dropped out of the exclusive club, after a 0.5% three month reduction in average values.
QV research director Jonno Ingerson said that values are performing more strongly in the Auckland region than elsewhere, but notable variations exist within Auckland.
‘There has been strong growth in values in the past few months in the old Auckland City, modest increases in Rodney, North Shore and Waitakere, while the Manukau, Papakura and Franklin areas have stayed more or less stable,’ he said.
Values in Hamilton and Tauranga had been relatively stable for the past six months. ‘Wellington has continued to drop as potential restructuring of the public sector has thrown caution amongst many potential home buyers and sellers,’ Ingerson added.
Viewed nationally, values had fallen for about 12 months until late last year before picking up. On the QV index, values are now 5.2% below the peak of 2007, but in Auckland they are just 0.6% from the peak. On the current trend, Auckland would reach a new high within two months.
However, sales volumes remain low. The number of sales in the three months to 30 June was 20% below the long term average and 40% below the peak.
Auckland suburbs recording the biggest three month increases included Manurewa East, up 5.2%, Northcote Pt up4.9%, and Ellerslie up 4.4%. The biggest falls of 3.9% were in Oneroa, Snells Beach and Pt England.
