KEY POINTS:
Otara - Auckland's own version of South Central LA - has always been, and still is, the cheapest suburb in Auckland.
Its QV average sale price is $241,000, compared with the national price of $406,176.
While community spirit and church attendance is notably high in this mainly Pacific Island neighbourhood, so is the suburb's reputation for poverty, crime and rundown housing. Nonetheless Otara has seen remarkable growth of 16 per cent during the year. Homes are attracting price premiums of 30 per cent above their rateable value - the fourth-highest of Auckland's 54 suburbs (after trendy Herne Bay, Parnell and Belmont).
"If you were a first-time buyer and bought there over the last year or so, you'd be laughing all the way to the bank,' said Stephen Hart, editor of Where To Live In Auckland. First-time buyers and investors are increasingly drawn to the area because the mortgage payments and retail yields still make sense here, he said. The suburb is within easy reach of the booming retail hubs of Botany Downs and Sylvia Park, as well as the south Auckland countryside and Maraetai Beach. With the development of Highbrook Business Park in East Tamaki - projected to provide 15,000 new jobs in the next few years - Hart believes it will only further increase Otara's popularity. "Sure, Otara is never going to be everyone's cup of tea, but right now it's got more going for it than most people give it credit for."
For sale
18 Vickerman St, Otara
$339,000
Bargains don't come better than this fully renovated three-bedroom house on 726sq m, within easy distance of Auckland's Southern Motorway. View at www.raywhite.co.nz
MNK13672
