Top 20 Super City hotspots

Coastal suburbs dominate Barfoot & Thompson’s latest list of Auckland’s top 20 hot growth spots, indicating a shift away from the traditional inner-city favourites.

Saturday, February 18th 2017, 9:00PM

by Miriam Bell

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson

The real estate agency’s list looks at which Auckland’s suburbs have seen the greatest percentage value growth by comparing median sale prices for 2016 with 2015.

It features 12 coastal suburbs and is dominated by the North Shore and areas beyond the traditionally popular inner-city suburbs.

As it did in the agency’s last list of hot spots back in August 2016, Mission Bay claimed the number one spot.

The exclusive Eastern Bay’s suburb saw its median sales price reach $1,787,500 in 2016. This was a 53% increase on its 2015 median sales price of $1,167,505.

Mission Bay’s median sales prices rose by around a third more than any other area.

One Tree Hill and Takapuna were the second and third ranked hot spots respectively, with both seeing price growth of 37% between 2015 and 2016.

Along with Mission Bay, a number of the other suburbs in the latest list also featured in the agency’s last list of hotspots.

They are One Tree Hill, Belmont, Grey Lynn, Mangawhai Heads, Royal Oak, Sunnyvale, Weymouth, Bucklands Beach, and Manukau Central.

Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said sales prices continued to rise throughout 2016, with the rate of increase slowing slightly towards the end of the year.

There is a building boom in Auckland and people are also investing in and renovating before they sell, he said.

“The result is more apartments, and new or higher-end homes. If any of these things are happening in an area it will affect the median sales price.”

However, many central suburbs which showed strong growth in 2015 dropped down the list and some areas outside of the top 20 recorded median sales prices lower than the previous year.

In Freemans Bay, which was last on the list at 113, the median sales price was down 54% to $554,000 in 2016, as compared $1,215,000 in 2015.

Many of the area’s sales in 2016 were apartments rather than standalone houses and this impacted on prices.

Thompson said that over time different areas have their time in the sun and the rise and fall of suburbs in the list demonstrates the cycle of growth.

January sales data shows that Auckland prices are steady, but growth may have peaked for now in some areas while others may continue rising, he said.

“A definite trend is growth in areas outside inner city suburbs, particularly the North Shore last year.

“Buyers are looking further out and perhaps trading off a central location for other lifestyle factors.

“Twelve of the top 20 suburbs are coastal, which is not surprising given New Zealanders’ love of the water.”

While the numbers tell an interesting story, they don’t predict the future, Thompson added.

Barfoot & Thompson’s top 20 Auckland growth spots were:

1. Mission Bay (53%)
2. One Tree Hill (37%)
3. Takapuna (37%)
4. Belmont (36%)
5. Lynfield (34%)
6. Castor Bay (34%)
7. Grey Lynn (32%)
8. Mangawhai Heads (31%)
9. Kohimarama (31%)
10. Rothesay Bay (30%)
11. Royal Oak (29%)
12. Albany (28%)
13. Cockle Bay (28%)
14. Sunnyvale (27%)
15. Browns Bay (27%)
16. Weymouth (24%)
17. Helensville (24%)
18. Meadowbank (23%)
19. Bucklands Beach (23%)
20. Manukau Central (22%)