# Auckland housing price variation



## chergui

Hi,

I'm from Vancouver and thinking of moving to NZ. There is the most work for me in Auckland (software engineer). The main attraction for me is sailing and the outdoors so I wanted to be somewhere near auckland which has some of the best sailing opportunities in the world (from auckland up to Bay of Islands). Another reason was to escape Vancouver's insane real estate bubble. I know people complain about the cost of NZ real estate but according to the link below the avg cost is around $478,000 NZD. This is at least half the cost of Vancouver. And then take another 20% off due to appreciation of the CAD vs NZD.

I notice a lot of variation though in the prices so I'd like to try to sort out why. Auckland South – Papatoetoe and Auckland West – Henderson Area are much cheaper than Auckland North – Albany for example. An avg cost of $365,000 is really not expensive. Are these prices accurate? Or are the cheaper areas just not nice at all? Or is there possibly a lot of lower quality houses skewing the prices? Why is there so much variation amongst the areas? Thanks for any input, I'd like to work out how expensive it really is and whether it's doable. There may be other factors I'm unaware of. Any input is appreciated! Thanks.

Sorry for wrong format, I can't post links  
w ww.enz.org/house-prices-auckland.html

Summary:
Location  May 2012 
Auckland North – Albany	$658,000	
Auckland North – Birkenhead $570,000	
Auckland Central – Eastern Suburbs $829,000	
Auckland Central City	$312,000	
Auckland Central – Mt Eden / Epsom $735,000	
Auckland West – Henderson Area $383,000	
Auckland South – Papatoetoe $365,000	
All of Auckland Area $478,000


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## anski

chergui said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm from Vancouver and thinking of moving to NZ. There is the most work for me in Auckland (software engineer). The main attraction for me is sailing and the outdoors so I wanted to be somewhere near auckland which has some of the best sailing opportunities in the world (from auckland up to Bay of Islands). Another reason was to escape Vancouver's insane real estate bubble. I know people complain about the cost of NZ real estate but according to the link below the avg cost is around $478,000 NZD. This is at least half the cost of Vancouver. And then take another 20% off due to appreciation of the CAD vs NZD.
> 
> I notice a lot of variation though in the prices so I'd like to try to sort out why. Auckland South – Papatoetoe and Auckland West – Henderson Area are much cheaper than Auckland North – Albany for example. An avg cost of $365,000 is really not expensive. Are these prices accurate? Or are the cheaper areas just not nice at all? Or is there possibly a lot of lower quality houses skewing the prices? Why is there so much variation amongst the areas? Thanks for any input, I'd like to work out how expensive it really is and whether it's doable. There may be other factors I'm unaware of. Any input is appreciated! Thanks.
> 
> Sorry for wrong format, I can't post links
> w ww.enz.org/house-prices-auckland.html
> 
> Summary:
> Location May 2012
> Auckland North – Albany	$658,000
> Auckland North – Birkenhead $570,000
> Auckland Central – Eastern Suburbs $829,000
> Auckland Central City	$312,000
> Auckland Central – Mt Eden / Epsom $735,000
> Auckland West – Henderson Area $383,000
> Auckland South – Papatoetoe $365,000
> All of Auckland Area $478,000



Welcome to the forum. Without being in NZ it is very difficult to get a real feeling for where to live.

Before I made my first trip to Auckland with the sole intention of buying a house. I looked at a map of Auckland to narrow down the areas I would search. 

Having lived & commuted in Sydney over the Harbour Bridge I decided anywhere which involved crossing the Harbour Bridge in Auckland was not a consideration.

I also ruled out any part of Auckland which involved commuting on a motorway to the city. 
These 2 decisions have proved wise.

I then decided I wanted to live within easy commute of the city & with good public transport, shopping etc.
I looked at Parnell, Ponsonby, Mt Eden, & although all of these were attractive I decided having grown up by the water I wanted to live near the water therefore I started looking at Orakei, Mission Bay, Kohimarama & St, Heliers, finally settling on Mission Bay. Mission Bay - Auckland's Best Beachside Restaurants, Cafes & Bars This is Auckland Central.
It was one of the best decisions I have made in my life, at the moment there are few properties listed there & it has increased in value as much of Auckland has in the past few years.

It is 7km from the city has a good bus service, takes me 15-25 minutes to drive into the city depending on time of day. It is very popular & there are a number of marina's in the area nearby.

Eastern suburbs have nice areas & there is a ferry from Half Moon Bay to CBD.

The areas of Auckland South – Papatoetoe and Auckland West – Henderson Area are cheaper for a reason (I would not care to live there & then there is the highways which get very congested to cope with)
Auckland North – Albany is nice & other nice areas near water are Browns Bay & further up Whangaparoa area but further commute to city & harbour bridge traffic.

For more accurate property prices look at

Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me


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## walshdon

Have a look at Suburb guide Auckland and it will give you a good guide to the best areas. Also for me I work in Penrose but live in Howick it is east Auckland nice area but next place I will be looking and would recommend beachlands where pine harbor is great marina with restaurant and beach. Massive marina with ferry to Auckland CBD on weekdays. But if you did drive in non rush hour it's 45 min. Also if you like golf Formosa golf club is there also.


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## chergui

Thanks for the replies. I'm still researching. I wouldn't be able to do more than 500k for a house so that might leave me with fewer options in Auckland. I can also probably find work in Christchurch and Wellington so I would consider those places too. I see some jobs in Auckland for Rodney & North Shore. Would that get me far enough out to see a bit less expensive places? It looks like it might be near Gulf Harbour Whangaparaoa...?


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