The housing market boom has irrevocably changed the face of New Zealand's biggest cities, turning previously affordable suburbs into no-go areas for first home buyers.

New analysis of house price inflation in the country's seven main metros between January 2020 and January 2022 shows an explosion in the number of $1 million-plus suburbs, and a complete wipeout of homes at the bottom of the market.

Over the two-year period the nationwide average property value jumped 45 per cent, from $760,000 to $1.103 million. Some towns and cities saw growth of more than 60 per cent, and even those left behind by the boom, like Dunedin, registered a level growth that would be, in years previous, classed as strong.

The housing frenzy radically altered the landscape for buyers and sellers, with typical prices in many locations now well above $1m.

Of the 646 suburbs that make up Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Queenstown, Tauranga and Wellington, 203 had an average property value of $1m or more in January 2020, but by January 2022 the number of $1m-plus suburbs in the seven cities had grown 100% to 406.

The research, carried out by NZME-owned property listing site OneRoof.co.nz and its data partner, Valocity, also shows a sharp decrease in the overall number of New Zealand suburbs with an average property value of less than $500,000, from 975 to 434.

In the major metros, the number of sub-$500,000 suburbs dropped 82%, from 84 suburbs to just 15, with the majority of those in fringe locations with few amenities or services.

The maps over the following pages illustrate the dramatic changes in New Zealand's housing market over the last two years.

They cover the country's seven major metros and show, at a suburb level, the spread of house prices in January 2020 and again in January 2022. The suburbs in each map have been colour-coded according to their average property value. White denotes a suburb that has an average property value of less than $500,000, dark green denotes a suburb with an average property value of more than $2m.

Auckland

Auckland's average property value grew 44 per cent over the two-year period from $1.09m to $1.57m. In January 2020, just one suburb - rural Te Hana, on Greater Auckland's northern-most fringes - had an average property value of less than $500,000, while Auckland Central, home to shoebox apartments, was the cheapest entry point for those wanting a CBD location.

All up, 124 suburbs out of 278 covered had an average property value of less than $1m. Most of these were in the city's southern belt and rural fringes, although there were still a dozen or so central city suburbs, such as Onehunga and Mt Wellington, where buyers could get a standalone house or unit for six figures. Just nine suburbs had an average property value of $2m-plus, with Herne Bay, in the city's inner-west, the city's (and country's) most expensive housing market.

The 2022 map illustrates the shift in prices. Bar three apartment-heavy locations, the majority of suburbs in the city's central belt have average property values of $1.5m and above, and much of South Auckland has moved into the $1m-$1.5m price bracket. The number of $2m-plus suburbs has grown to 68, eight of which are in the $3m-plus bracket.

Herne Bay is still the most expensive suburb, but its average property value jumped $1.17m to $4.14m over the two-year period. It is one of five suburbs where prices rose $1m or more. A further 122 suburbs saw value increases of between $500,000 and $1m. The smallest increases - less than $200,000 - were in the city's apartment suburbs of Auckland Central, Newmarket, Eden Terrace, Grafton and Manukau

Christchurch

Compared to Auckland and Wellington, Christchurch is still relatively affordable and while the housing boom altered the market, the city still has opportunities for first home buyers to enter the market at sub-$500,000 price points.

Over the two-year period, the city's average property value grew 47 per cent from $529,000 to $782,000. In January 2020, 46 of the 112 Christchurch suburbs covered in the figures had an average property value of less than half a million dollars, and seven suburbs - Bottle Lake, Coutts Island, Fendalton, Kennedys Bush, McLeans Island, Merivale and Scarborough - were in the $1m-plus price bracket.

What's clear is that affordable housing can be easily found in the majority of central Christchurch - buyers don't have to search on the furthermost fringes to find a home in the sub-$500,000 bracket.

Fast forward two years, and most of those affordable locations have moved up a price bracket, with the number of suburbs with an average property value of less than $500,000 shrinking to just eight, and the number of suburbs in the $500,000 to $1m price bracket rising from 59 to 73 and the number of suburbs in the $1m-plus bracket ballooning to 31. Kennedys Bush, with an average property value of $1.84m, is the city's most expensive place to buy property (earthquake-damaged and flood-prone Bexley is the city's cheapest urban suburb, with an average property value of $355,000).

Dunedin

Of the seven major metros, Dunedin's housing market has suffered the smallest price jolt between January 2020 and January 2022, with its overall average property value growing 33.4 per cent over the two-year period from $568,000 to $758,000.
At the start of 2020, all but two of the city's 106 suburbs had an average property value of above $1m, and 36 were in the sub-$500,000 price bracket.

The change between the two maps is clearest at the bottom end of the market, with the number of suburbs with an average property value of less than $500,000 shrinking to seven. The bulk of the city's property market (82 suburbs) sits within the $500,000 to $1m price band and the number of $1m-plus suburbs has grown to 17. No suburb has managed to cross into the $1.5m-plus band. North Taieri, with an average property value of $1.44m, is the city's most expensive suburb.

Hamilton

At the start of 2020, most of Hamilton - 35 out of 41 suburbs - sat in the $500,000 to $1m price bracket, although you could still quite easily pick up a home for less than half million dollars in Bader, Deanwell, Enderley and Te Rapa. Just two suburbs - Peacocke and Burbush - had an average property value of above $1m.

Jump to January 2022, and Peacocke and Burbush are still the city's most expensive suburbs, with average property values of $1.59m and $1.62m respectively, but they have been joined in the $1m-plus club by another 12 suburbs.

Hamilton's overall average property value has grown 46 per cent over the two-year period from $643,000 to $939,000, and while the bulk of the city (27 suburbs) still sits in the sub-$1m bracket, no suburb has an average property value of less than $500,000

Queenstown-Lakes

Queenstown-Lakes' average property value grew 36 per cent between January 2020 and January 2022, from $1.35m to $1.85m. Of the country's seven major metros, Queenstown-Lakes struggled the most after Covid hit, but it recovered by the end of 2021 and much of the house price gains it has enjoyed has been in the last 12 months.
Prior to Covid's arrival, 22 suburbs in Queenstown-Lakes (70 per cent) had an average property value of more than $1m, nine of which were above $2m. By January 2022, just two suburbs had an average property value of less than $1m - Kingston and Makarora - while the $2m-plus club has grown to 13.

Glendhu Bay, on the northernmost fringes of the TA and home to rich-lister estates, remains the area's most expensive rural suburb, with an average property value of $7.7m, while Kelvin Heights, with an average property value of $2.3m, is the area's most expensive residential suburb.

Tauranga

Compared to New Zealand's other major metros, Tauranga is geographically quite small - it has only 23 suburbs - so the changes in house prices over the two-year period are quite readily apparent.

Between January 2020 and January 2022, the city's overall average property value grew 53.2 per cent from $810,000 to $1.24m. In 2020, one suburb, Parkvale, had an average property value of less than $500,000, and just three suburbs - Kairua, Mount Maunganui and Tauriko - were in the $1m-plus price bracket. By 2022, Parkvale's average property value had grown almost $300,000 to $770,000 and 15 suburbs had an average property value of more than $1m, with Tauriko breaking through into the $2m bracket

Wellington

The overwhelming majority of the capital's suburbs (78 per cent) had an average property value of less than $1m in January 2020, with city's overall average property value sitting at $887,000. In the two years since, the number of suburbs in the sub-$1m price bracket has dropped from 44 to just seven - the apartment-heavy central suburbs of Wellington Central, Mount Cook, Pipitea and Te Aro, as well as Glenside, Grenada North and Mākara Beach to the city's north and east - and the city's overall average property value has grown to $1.31m.

The number of suburbs in the $1.5m-plus category has grown from one in January 2020 - Oriental Bay - to 12 in January 2022, with Seatoun joining Oriental Bay in the $2m-plus category.