Kaikohe was named one of New Zealand's 100 “hottest” suburbs.
Three suburbs in Northland are among New Zealand’s 100 “hottest” suburbs, rating highly for price growth, employment and affordability, a OneRoof report released today says.
Kaikohe, Dargaville and Kaitāia made the list, which pinpoints the 100 New Zealand suburbs that offer the best value to buyers and hold the best long-term growth prospects for owners, OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan says.
Kaikohe, ranked 20th, had an average property value of $402,000 and scored highly on price growth, resilience to shocks, turnover, affordability and population growth.
Dargaville, ranked 69th, had an average property value of $509,000 and scored highly on turnover, affordability and population growth.
Kaitāia, ranked 74th, had an average property value of $451,000 and scored highly on turnover, amenities and employment.
Almost a quarter of the suburbs were in Auckland, including East Tāmaki, which took out the number-one ranking. Canterbury claimed the next biggest share, with 18 of its suburbs on the list.
The list was inspired by similar housing market analysis carried out by Australia’s real estate portals. OneRoof wanted to identify the suburbs that had the greatest potential to reward buyers in years to come.
The analysis comes as new house price figures from OneRoof show the housing market is still under pressure.
The nationwide average property dropped 0.7% to $957,000 in the three months to the end of October.
In the Northland, the average property value was $815,000, a drop of 2.20%.
Cuts to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) and falling mortgage rates were already having an impact on buyer activity. Since the first OCR cut in August, inquiries on OneRoof had risen almost 20%, while agents had noted more people at open homes and increased bidding at auctions, the statement said.
Vaughan said buyers needed to do their research to understand what drove a local market and how it was likely to evolve over the coming years.
“OneRoof’s Hot 100 list is an invaluable aid for those unsure about the market.
“We all want to buy at an affordable price and to live in a suburb that’s on the rise.
“And while prices have softened after 2023′s mini post-slump surge, there are locations around the country that are primed for growth when the market picks up.”
Valocity senior research analyst Wayne Shum said the list was for most Kiwis, not the top 10% of earners.
He said the analysis’ key message was people should reassess the more affordable suburbs on the list because while they might not be top of mind, they do have the most potential.
Shum said the team started with suburbs with 500 or more residential and lifestyle suburbs and assigned scores based on various criteria, including a heavy emphasis on affordability, resilience over the recent downturn and factors like the number of building and renovation consents issued in recent years, mortgage data, amenities, employment proximity, and property price and population growth.
Six regions recorded quarterly value growth, up from five at the end of September.
West Coast and Southland – two of the country’s cheapest regions for property – were up more than 1%, but the 0.1% lift in Canterbury to $782,000 is more significant for the overall market. The region is New Zealand’s second-largest for sales and has held up well across all price points.
House prices in Auckland dropped 0.8% ($10,000) in the three months to the end of October to $1.279 million, down from the quarterly drop of 1.7% at the end of September and 2.6% at the end of August.
Still dropping but at a slower rate are property values in Wellington (-1.9% to $863,000) and Northland (-2.2% to $815,000). Both regions have been hit hard by the winter slump, with low sales and falling values particularly acute in Kaipara, in Northland, and Carterton and Wellington City, in Wellington.
At a major metro level, only Queenstown-Lakes was up, although the pace of value growth in the country’s most expensive district for real estate has slowed, from almost 3% at the end of August to 0.9% at the end of October.
Values in Christchurch and Hamilton were down by just a fraction (-0.3% and -0.4%) over the last three months, but values in Dunedin dropped 1% – a surprise after the city’s brief period of stability. Tauranga was also down, by 1.3%, while Wellington City’s average property value is 2.8% ($28,000) lower than it was at the end of July and 5.7% ($58,000) lower than at the end of April.
The average property value grew in a third of the suburbs covered by the index, up from less than 25% of suburbs at the end of September.
West Coast suburbs recorded the strongest growth, with Runanga, in the Grey district, up 8.3% ($23,000) to $301,000, although values in two of the country’s richest areas – Lake Hayes and Arrowtown, in Queenstown-Lakes – were also up sharply, 7.6% and 3.5% respectively, or $198,000 and $98,000.
The biggest quarterly losses were in the Far North, with 12 suburbs in the Northland district recording value drops of more than 5%. Karikari Peninsula was hardest-hit, dropping 12.4% ($97,000) to $686,000, closely followed by Paihia (-10.1%), and Russell and Kaikohe (both down 8.5%).
The biggest value drops were in the Ashburton suburbs of Netherby and Allenton (down 11.5% and 7.9% respectively), but also feeling the squeeze were two high-profile suburbs on Auckland’s lifestyle fringe. Whitford’s average property value dropped 7.6% ($276,000) to $3.41m while Coatesville’s tumbled 7.4% ($271,000) to $3.38m.