davros1984

Average house price in howick is around the 1 million nzd mark, is is one of the most expensive suburbs in auckland. Isnt the infamous street where the average house price of 2million nzd in howick? Anyway 1 million nzd house requires a 250k deposit. Hence what i said in my first post on this thread. Then with our current income could we just about afford the mortgage payments over 30 years so long as we rarely did anything other than work. Welcome to Auckland!

redvolcane

Thanks guys very much appreciated.

I've seen a couple of holiday homes - one in Birkenhead and one in Whitianga. What are these places like? I know Whitianga is a little further away but might me nice for a couple of nights?

Moomoo

Have a look at trademe.co.nz - property - auckland - manukau - howick (or whatever suburb) and you will see some prices on there - yes there are some over $1m but it's not the average price - also if you click on a particular property there are sometimes the recent sold prices at the bottom on the right hand side

Moomoo

redvolcane

What suburbs would you recommend with more moderate house prices. My salary of 100k will be our income initially but as the boys get older, my partner would work part time

davros1984

You only have to be living under a rock to not know that the majority of properties sell for well over their CV (at auction). Even if a property is marked at $650,000 - expect it to sell for $900K or $1 Mill+.

I am not saying its completely impossible, but what you may be able to afford there will largely resemble a garden shed in the UK. Don't come over here thinking it will be a walk in a park and everything is super affordable - its not.

If you want somewhere somewhat more affordable, West Auckland or go further South of the City. Depends on your budget as well, Beach Haven is OK - bit of a quiet suburb, but there you can get 3-bedders for around the 600K NZD mark (not affordable to me).

Moomoo

The ones that are going to auction do not have prices on. Yes, these are going to sell for more than their CV.

I did recommend looking at the SOLD prices too that are at the bottom of individual trademe house pages and I don't think that if a property has the price on it it's going to sell $300,000 more, as that is the asking price.

There are several on trademe for Howick that are not going to auction or have been and didn't sell on the day that have the asking prices on and are well under $1m.

rinnie79

Howick area asking price well under a million. There are heaps, these are just a few I found in a few minutes;

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=710367173

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-721696721.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-715773512.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-707037777.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-710364764.htm

davros1984

OK - so there are 2 houses there which I would consider as "reasonable" houses in terms of liveability and build quality:
1) http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=710367173
2) http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-715773512.htm


The first is a house I would buy (its nice)- if it was 200-300K cheaper.
However the second has lots of wood = instantly offputting. The others look to be in a bit of a state, bodged together with all sorts of bits. Classic Auckland "pots of gold".

The last property:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-710364764.htm

That to me is the problem with an area like Howick - that is an entry-level, first-time buyer 3-bed house yet its $650,000. Disgusting.

Are any of those 5 houses affordable? Could they be afforded on a 100K salary? They could if you assume that they sell at that value and no more and if you work work work, don't do much and have a huge deposit. As a FTB, a mortgage of $650,000 (with a deposit of $130,000) works out at approximately $3450 a month over 25 years (not taking into account planned interest rate rises). That would eat up well over half of my take home pay a month and some. To me, if a mortgage eats up more than 30%-35% of your take home pay, you could be in trouble. But hey, thats my personal outlook.

rinnie79

I find your opinion interesting as I see you are from the north shore yourself. I have a relative who lives in Glenfield and has been looking at real estate in the shore for the past 12 months. We're constantly comparing north and east house prices and you definitely get more bang for your buck out east. North shore is very expensive.

rinnie79

In saying that I would love for your theory to be correct. If the average house price here in Howick is a cool mil, I must be rich and my house must be worth way more than I think

davros1984

Btw - I've been lazy and haven't updated my info. I spent most of my time in AKL on the N. Shore (as my partner worked at N.S. Hosp) - but now we live in the CBD until we fly back to the UK.

Its funny, when we first started out, we were able to rent a 2-bed apartment with 2 balconies and sea views in Takapuna for around $360 a week. Today, you're talking $650+ a week. Thats the amount of change that's occurred in 3 years.

chocolate cake

Two different views above re: Howick and house affordability, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

I like in Howick, having first rented at couple of places in Cockle Bay when I came 6 years ago and then moved nearer central Howick, I bought a place in Howick a couple of years ago.

The village itself is nice with good selection of small shops, bars, restaurants and small cinema too, as well as supermarket. It's also quite handy for the sea (though only really a swimming beach when the tide's in, or otherwise you'd walking a good kilometre out) with great views to Rangitoto, Waiheke and the other Islands.

Housing isn't cheap, with 100k income you'll need some decent savings as with a min 20% deposit now, options won't be too great. Still $1.2M would be the exception rather than rule, and I don't see too many BMWs about either, plenty of 4x4's though.

Housing, one thing to watch out for is leaky homes, due to bad building decisions in the 90's and early 00's and this a big problem NZ generally. For instance the Botany shopping centre mall referred to by one of the posts above, only opened in 2001 is undergoing major renovations at the mo to fix the leaky building problem.

Alot depends on where you find work, as Auckland traffic is horrendous, and as bad as London & SE. If I was working in the CBD I personally wouldn't be looking at Howick unless the Half Moon Bay ferry was an option, as you're looking at over a hours commute both ways and expensive parking.

As to Whitianga, I love the Whiti and the Coromandel, would be a dream being able to work there, but certainly no option commuting - it's a good 2 1/2 drive at best.

redvolcane

Cheers guys your comments have been really useful

homeprofessional

I would have a look at Wattle Downs (in the Reremoana school zone-very good primary) as the house prices there are still quite reasonable for Auckland and you can get a nice house for around $650K (look on trade me) Easy access to the motorway and CBD. North Shore is expensive other than places like Sunnynook, but hey, you need to drive around and have a look at where you like and then compare house prices and availability. CBD you will get rubbish for large $$$$