WELCOMING 2021. Freestanding homes drive local market momentum.
2021 - Phew! The festive season has come and gone in a flash. We survived a year without the Franklin Road lights, and hopefully most of us managed some well-deserved downtime after a lot of catch up toward the back end of 2020.
We all had our setbacks last year with the Covid-19 lockdowns. Personally, looking back on 2020 I was pleased to have completed my busiest quarter to date in my career with a shade under 14 million dollars in sales value over October -December, including six property sales concentrated mainly around the northern areas of Herne Bay down to Saint Marys Bay. It’s a real privilege and pleasure to assist my clients with their next life-move and to work in an area where I have lived since my school days at Saint Marys College in the early 1990s.
MARKET WRAP
The greater Ponsonby marketplace (Saint Marys Bay, Herne Bay, Freemans Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and Westmere) saw the median sell price for December increase 11% compared with the same period last year, and a healthy 65 completed sales compared with 57 in December 2019 - a busy month!
Interestingly, the median sell price growth for freestanding houses increased by 19% year on year, indicating a strong local demand for traditional freestanding property stock at this point, likely driven by the post-Covid factors canvassed in my previous newsletters – returning ex-pats, first and second-home buyers looking for a family friendly property, and empty-nester buyers looking for their next renovation project.
An example of this was my December under the hammer sale at 13 Dublin Street Saint Marys Bay – a heritage style home with a great backyard, views to the city, a northerly aspect, and renovation potential. With a strong New Zealand Sotheby’s digital marketing campaign we saw over 83 groups through the door, significant overseas enquiry from our global affiliate websites, and 12 registered bidders, including two ex-pats who bid over the phone from Singapore and the UK.
THINKING OF A QUEENSTOWN MOVE?
I write from Queenstown where we are enjoying some training at our company Head Office. Our local Queenstown team are seeing a definite increase in the number of Auckland purchasers looking to relocate attracted by lifestyle, as well as many infrastructure projects requiring specialist workforce talent.
Our NZSIR Managing Director Mark Harris says, “There has been a noticeable increase in interest in Queenstown since October 2020. Low-interest rates and a flight to fresh air, space, and lifestyle are driving enquiries from right across New Zealand. There have been some big sales in the high end of the market where we are also seeing renewed interest from Australia and ex-pats returning home.”
Please do not hesitate to get in touch to access our unrivalled coverage of lifestyle properties, first homes, or holiday homes in the area.
My favourite listing in Queenstown at present is 13 Old Homestead Place, Kelvin Heights (pictures above) marketed by our colleagues Gerard Bligh and Hadley van Schaik. This is a noted architectural build known as ‘The Remarkables House’ featuring an expansive floorplan, cedar, and stone construction, and ever-changing views out to Lake Wakatipu and beyond. Check it out on www.nzsothebysrealty.com, listing ID QBS12430.
SEARCHING FOR VALUE
Buyers in the current greater Ponsonby marketplace can still find value by broadening their search parameters. High demand and competition for freestanding homes are creating value in segments of the apartment and townhouse market, with several high-quality developments across the local area offering more choice for buyers compared with freestanding homes. Quality developments close to Ponsonby such as Western Park in Hopetoun Street, and The Beaumont Quarter on the edge of Victoria Park in Freemans Bay are two that come to mind for me as places where a relatively large apartment or terraced home can be owned for a relatively reasonable price due to less demand compared with supply currently in this particular segment. Both of these complexes have great shared facilities, guest car parking (invaluable close to the city), and are located within walking distance to supermarkets and Ponsonby Road.
History tells us that this period of increased supply will not last forever, and I would encourage potential purchasers to consider premium apartments and terraces which are currently offering strong value in many cases.
Happy New Year and wishing you all the very best for 2021.
Thank you for reading.
Charlotte Kofoed, M: 021 241 9394, T: 09 353 1220, www.ckre.co.nz, E:charlotte.kofoed@nzsir.com
December 2020
Properties Sold 65
Average Sell Price $1,784,507
Median Sell Price $1,690,000
November 2020
Properties Sold 73
Average Sell Price $2,621,931
Median Sell Price $2,580,655
December 2019
Properties Sold 57
Average Sell Price $1,370,747
Median Sell Price $1,521,000
REINZ statistics for Freemans Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Westmere, St Marys Bay & Herne Bay
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