Ex air base values skyrocket

Marc and Laura Grigg have confidence in the future of the area. Photo / Julia Thorne

One resident so happy with his first house he wants another one, as an investment.

A Hobsonville Pt home owner says he has made a paper profit of about $200,000 in just two years.

Marc Grigg said he and his wife Laura bought their house, developed by Jalcon Homes, two years ago for $649,000 and had seen the value rise fast ever since.

"We had an evaluation done 12 months ago and it was valued at $769,000. If we were to list it today, I would imagine we would be looking around $850,000. This would be based on the other properties selling in the area," he said.

Grigg is so pleased with his gains he now wants a second place, probably an apartment, in the north-western estate being developed on state land in a project headed by AV Jennings.

But he said they did not buy specifically intending to make gains.

"Laura and I had previously lived out there when I was in the air force and really liked the house when we first saw it. So lucky we picked an up-and-coming area," he said.

An apartment in the new Brickworks would be bought as an investment, he said, considering a two-bedroom two-bathroom place for $475,000 which he said could be rented for $500 to $575 a week.

Critics say the streets are too narrow, the sections too small, the houses too close together and the estate too far out from Auckland's heart to justify such intensive development. Ongoing construction work will be disruptive and noisy and political interference in the mix of affordable houses and the fact that so much work is planned to go on for so long are other factors they say would deter them from buying.

But Grigg said he had confidence in the estate, akin to upmarket North Shore suburbs with ferry access.

Last month, Mayor Len Brown marked the start of construction of Brickworks. The 59-unit one and two-bedroom four-level project by Tasman Cook will rise in four blocks: Crown, Clark, Carder and Holland. These buildings will be built around a central gated courtyard, with one-bedroom 48sq m units selling from $349,000.

Willis Bond & Co will develop the next precinct, Sunderland A. That is five development blocks in 7ha, overlooking the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour and zoned for standalone and medium density housing, which willsee about 210 residences built over the next four years.

Hobsonville Land Company looked at 20 development partner applicants in a market tender.

Mark McGuiness, Willis Bond managing director, said money for the development would come from its development fund, Willis Bond Capital Partners which includes among its investors New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Accident Compensation Corporation and the Government Superannuation Fund Authority.

Hobsonville Pt

*167ha of upper Waitemata Harbour coastal land.
*Ex-Hobsonville air base.
*3000 new houses, townhouses and apartments planned.
*New primary school last year, new secondary school this year.
*25-minute commuter ferry ride to downtown Auckland.
Source: Hobsonville Land Company