New council opportunity to grow real estate sector

Peter Thompson. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Auckland real estate supremo Peter Thompson is confident the strong population growth projections for the Super City will underpin the long-term prospects of the local housing market.

The Barfoot & Thompson director has been long been an advocate for Auckland to become a Super City and heralds the arrival of the new Auckland Council as a great opportunity to drive a coherent growth plan for the housing sector.

Thompson says planners should think carefully about where future housing is concentrated to accommodate the coming growth bulge: more low-rise apartment blocks in fringe suburbs would help.

But the most important element is to make sure the council's first spatial plan is sufficiently cohesive to ensure future housing developments occur alongside other social necessities like transport and schools.

As far as the CBD is concerned, Thompson believes the current apartment mix is about right. But there needs to be more life in the inner city; a decent transport hub and better waterfront access.

He observes that some Asia immigrants who initially settle in Asian enclaves like Howick shift to inner-city apartments when they tire of lawn-mowing.

Aucklanders - probably more so than other Kiwis - tend to obsess over property prices. It is more expensive to get a foot in the door here. Servicing mortgages also takes up a bigger slice of household incomes.

But Thompson says, "New Zealanders and Aucklanders still want to own property. The influx of Asian and European migrants who come here will ensure future demand."

He welcomes that fact that under the new council, the rules around resource consents (and fees) will finally be uniform across the whole city. "This ought to make it cheaper to get houses built."

* From the New Zealand Herald feature, 'Project Auckland - our city'