Whenever I talk or write about property, it’s typically unavoidable that I need to use averages or medians or other types of summary measures – these are often at the national level or by territorial authority (e.g. Auckland, Napier, Christchurch etc.). However, we can also drill down to the suburb level very easily, and this month I wanted to take a look at this more detailed split for Auckland.
Auckland Central is the biggest suburb, with around 21,000 dwellings – reflecting the large stock of apartments. Next is Remuera, with more than 9,700 dwellings, ahead of Papatoetoe (~9,400) and Henderson (~9,000). Of course, with a median property value of around $2.7m and a gross rental yield of 1.6%, there wouldn’t be that many property investors who would naturally think of Remuera as the first or easy choice for their next purchase.
So, where are the more obvious targets? In terms of the simple level of values, only a small handful of suburbs sit below $800,000 – these include Auckland Central, Grafton, Manukau, and Manurewa East. There are another ten or so suburbs in the range of $800-$900,000, including Otara, Otahuhu, Newmarket, and Papatoetoe.
Of course, the gross rental yield is more insightful than the simple level of values itself, and on our data, some suburbs around Auckland still have a ‘decent’ figure of say 3.5% or more. These include 4% in Grafton and Manukau, 3.9% in Manurewa East, 3.6% in Auckland Central, and 3.5% for Otara. It’s also worth noting that Grafton, Otara, and Manurewa East have all seen rents themselves rise by 7-8% over the past 12 months, although Manukau and Auckland Central have been less encouraging, with rents actually falling over the past year.
Measures of activity can also be of great interest...
