NZ's best and worst suburbs revealed

Photo / Herald on Sunday

If you own property on Auckland's North Shore, you're in luck.

The Shore has trumped the rest of New Zealand by laying claim to six of the country's fastest growing suburbs.

Figures from Quotable Value New Zealand show the value of residential property in Sunnynook, Chatswood, Forrest Hill, Totara Vale, Glenfield and Hillcrest all rose by about 20 per cent last year, while the Ruapehu District was hit the hardest, with the value of property there falling -11.7 per cent.

Overall property values in New Zealand are up 6.1 per cent on the same time last year, with Auckland leading the charge of the main centres, posting a 9.9 per cent increase.

QV.co.nz research director Jonno Ingerson said Onemana near Whangamata, Feilding, Harbour View in Hutt City and Kingswell in South Invercargill also showed strong gains, although this may not be an accurate reflection of the market.

A few "unusual" sales could shift a market dramatically, particularly in a small community such as Onemana and Harbour View, he said.

Interestingly, the suburbs that posted the biggest gains were also among the hardest hit when the market went into freefall in 2008.

"The gains of the last year have in part been a recovery of values from this decline, and now all six of these North Shore suburbs have values above the previous peak of the market," Ingerson said.

Meanwhile some of the Shore's fastest growing suburbs were also some of the most affordable and this, combined with good motorway access and a lack of supply, had driven demand and values in those areas.

Barfoot & Thompson Glenfield managing director Grant Mackenzie said the Shore was a desirable place to live, because there was property to suit all budgets from the first home buyer, through to executives.

Those North Shore suburbs that were among the fastest growing were generally more modern suburbs that had been developed in the last 15-20 years, he said.

Latest figures show house buyers across the country remain cautious as concerns remain around job security, bank funding and proposed tax changes.

Statistics show the value of homes in rural areas of New Zealand have been slower to recover, particularly holiday homes and property in coastal communities, as people try to reduce debt.

As a result the demand for property in these areas was weak, so prices remained depressed, Ingerson said.

Traditional investor areas like Otahuhu in Auckland city had also been hit hard, with a lack of capital gain, and difficulty securing funding causing this market to cool.

Values in Otahuhu dropped 6.7 per cent to $301,556 in the year to March, while other areas to suffer losses include Featherston, Opotiki, Hokitika, Waihi Beach, Martinborough, Te Aroha in the Matamata-Piako District, Wairoa, and Winton in Southland.

Blue Ribbon Realty Taumarunui managing director Ken McGrath said there was still a lot of pain being felt by homeowners, and this was particularly noticeable in smaller towns like Taumarunui.

"While that pain is out there I can't see the prices coming up much."

It would take about 12 months for any gains made in the major cities, to filter through to smaller towns, he said.

The flip side was it was never a better time to buy, he said.

TABLE

The biggest annual change upwards was Sunnynook, on Auckland's North Shore, where prices rose 22 per cent in the past year, to a suburb average of $482k.

The worst performer was the central North Island town of Taumarunui, where prices fell over 11 per cent in the past 12 months, to an average of $111k.

Top 10 Suburbs
(suburb, annual change, current average value)
North Shore City, Sunnynook, 22.0 per cent, $482,444
North Shore City, Chatswood, 20.6 per cent, $669.056
Thames Coromandel District, Onemana, 20.1 per cent, $527,722
North Shore City, Forrest Hill, 19.2 per cent, $561,556
North Shore City, Totara Vale, 19.0 per cent, $434,778
Manawatu District, Feilding, 18.9 per cent, $252,333
North Shore City, Glenfield, 18.9 per cent, $451,444
Hutt City, Harbour View, 18.8 per cent, $479,500
North Shore City, Hillcrest, 18.8 per cent, $539,444
Invercargill City, Kingswell, 18.5 per cent, $157,167

Bottom 10 Suburbs

Auckland City, Otahuhu, -6.7 per cent, $301,556
Southland District, -7.6 per cent, $229,056
Wairoa District, Wairoa, -8.5 per cent, $106,889
Matamata-Piako District, Te Aroha, -8.7 per cent, $227,333
South Wairarapa, Martinborough, -8.9 per cent, $307,667
Western Bay of Plenty District, Waihi Beach, -9.6 per cent, $510,772
Westland District, Hokitika, -9.6 per cent, $207,833
Opotiki District, Opotiki, -10.1 per cent, $176,779
South Wairarapa, Featherston, -10.7 per cent, $185,278
Ruapehu District, Taumarunui, -11.7 per cent, $111,556