City fringe prices rising fastest

Much of the growth has been in fringe suburbs this year, such as Wellsford. Photo / Ted Baghurst

Property values in Auckland have barely shifted in the past 12 months, data from the latest OneRoof Property Report shows.

The median value of most suburbs in the city are now largely back at November 2017 levels.

Much of the growth this year has been in fringe suburbs, such as Wellsford or Pukekohe, where there are more affordable properties, or in areas where there has been a significant amount of new build activity or good schools.

The median value for all properties in the region currently sits at $821,000, less than 1 per cent up on the same period last year. Of the city's territorial authorities, only Papakura and Auckland City experienced annual growth of above 1 per cent.

The biggest Auckland riser was Kumeu, up 8.4 per cent to $1.63 million in the 12 months to November 1. The other suburbs still showing annual growth of 3 per cent or more are on the further reaches of the city.

Epsom is the only city exception (up 4.3 per cent), but it is a suburb of extremes. Top-end properties hover around the $5.5m mark (this year an enormous two-title, 4000sq m estate sold for $9.8m) while flats and townhouses can start around the mid $500,000s.

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson believed house prices had increased in Kumeu due to the construction of more transport and shopping hubs, coupled with land availability.

"It's the combination of the fact that when we look at that Westgate area, much of it is already sold and Kumeu is the next region that is going to be big.

"I think the whole of State Highway 16, even as far out as Helensville, is the next big opportunity going forward."

Value growth is also clustered around southern spots such as Māngere, Clover Park and Clendon Park, which have grown between 4.5 and 3.6 per cent each. The Clendon Park median at $550,000 is one of the lowest in Auckland (other than remote baches or inner city apartments, only Māngere at $480,000 is lower).

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said: "Important to watch in the last year are the few bellwether top sales - $940,000 in Clendon Park, $950,000 in Māngere, a Māngere one for over $1m and a whopping $1.35m in Clover Park - that suggests where these parts of towns are headed.

"Add in Panuku's extensive development plans for the whole area - walkable streets, public transport, parks, schools, stream clean-ups and a smart mixed-use redo of barren, car-centric Manukau town centre - and these suburbs can only go up."

Thompson added: "A lot of those areas are in the Flat Bush, Ormiston area where developments have been planned now for six or seven years, previously under the Manukau District Council. Once they merged, there has been a flow-on effect."