Demand growing for Auckland flats

Lea Wakefield moved from her four-bedroom house in Birkenhead to an apartment in Union St. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland's apartment boom has passed a new milestone with more unbuilt flats pre-sold off the plans than the number of existing apartments that changed hands in the first quarter of this year.

A study by real estate adviser CBRE says 847 apartments were pre-sold off the plans in the three months to March 31, exceeding the number of existing flats changing hands for the first time in the current cycle.

However, both the numbers of new apartments and the share of pre-sales are still below the peak of the last boom in 2004, when more than 5000 new apartments were consented that year. There were 3500 consented in the latest year to May 31.

Lea Wakefield, 45, bought her two-bedroom unit in the new SugarTree Apartments in Union St last August, when the first block of 148 homes was due to be completed by Christmas. Construction delays meant she couldn't move in until April, but she was happy with the transition from a four-bedroom house in Birkenhead that she had built with a former partner.

"I split up with someone and ended up on my own and had to get a flatmate. It's nice being on my own," she said.

Her $539,000 flat is just under 80sq m, much smaller than her old house. But it's a short walk to her work with views of the Sky Tower on one side and the harbour bridge on the other. "It's beautiful here at night," she said. "I was a bit concerned coming from a bush setting to the city, but if you close the windows it blocks out all the noise."

CBRE managing director Brent McGregor said 75 per cent of pre-sold apartments were going to owner-occupiers and 25 per cent to investors, with offshore buyers claiming 15 to 25 per cent.

Martin Dunn of City Sales said Auckland downtown apartment prices were largely flat between $4000 and $5000 a square metre up to 2013, but climbed to between $6000 and $7000 a square metre today, with new buildings going for $10,000 to $12,000. "This dramatic lift in apartment prices is unprecedented," he said.