A new snapshot of housing in Auckland paints a picture of rising rents, shrinking section sizes and fewer first-time buyers.
Photo: RNZ
Auckland Council's quarterly monitoring report shows in the third quarter of this year 39 percent of homes were going to people who already owned several homes.
The report on the state of the housing market is a requirement imposed by the previous government as part of its National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity.
There are few shocks, but trends are highlighted, such as 33 percent of sections created in the past quarter being smaller than 300 square metres.
Average rental data shows a room in the lower quarter of the market costs $248 a week, 33 percent more than four years ago.
A rental house in the lower quarter of the market now costs on average $552 a week, up 18 percent over the same period.
The report shows 21 percent of sales in the third quarter of the year went to first home buyers, 26 percent to owners moving, and 39 percent to those who already own more than one dwelling.
It highlights the vast price difference between the city's priciest and cheapest areas. The average sale price in the Orakei Local Board area, east of the downtown, was more than $1.8m this year.
That compares with around $700,000 in the southern areas of Papakura, and Otara-Papatoetoe.
Despite a sharp rise in apartments and attached homes, the stand-alone home still accounts for more than half of new building consents.
