Apartments are only built in the CBD? Absolutely not! Research shows apartments outside central Auckland will soon outnumber those in the CBD

New research from CBRE shows that apartments outside Auckland’s central business district will soon outnumber those within it. Associate director of research Tamba Carleton said the Auckland CBD currently has 21,253 apartments, while the number outside the city centre has surged to 20,604. Carleton said apartments outside the city centre would overtake the CBD’s stock in five weeks. This means Auckland is moving towards becoming a city with denser housing and more apartments.

Northcote has the largest number of recently completed apartments, at 214

This month, NZ Living’s Shane Brealey announced a new NZ$90,000,000 development on Greenslade Cres in Northcote. He said most of its homes had sold within three minutes of their launch in 2021. He attributed their popularity to the difficulty of finding properties priced at just NZ$500,000–600,000 each in Auckland, a city where the median house price exceeds NZ$1,000,000.

According to Carleton, NZ Living’s Greenslade Cres development forms part of plans for 872 apartments. Around half of the apartments in the 9 buildings on the street, previously owned by Kāinga Ora, amount to 129 apartments. Of these, 56 were developed under the government’s KiwiBuild programme, while 31 were offered for sale on the open market.

As part of the Auckland Unitary Plan, Kāinga Ora has also demolished old residential blocks on land it holds for housing development across the country, to build thousands of new apartments and meet New Zealanders’ growing housing needs.

Since 2018, the government has increased investment in apartment developments, with the number of projects under development remaining between 30 and 35.

Other developers have also joined the apartment-building effort. Carleton predicts 141 apartment developments will be completed in Auckland between this year and 2025. Among them, 28 projects will deliver around 872 apartments across 20 different Auckland neighbourhoods. Kāinga Ora’s 9 developments include 4 in Māngere, alongside projects in Northcote, Manurewa, Glenfield and Mount Wellington. She stressed that Auckland was approaching a concentrated period of apartment completions, with 131 projects due to deliver around 7070 apartments before 2025. These include 119 apartments in Avondale due for completion next month; 97 in Manurewa; 5 3 in Browns Bay; 48 each in Orewa and Glen Innes; 46 in Papakura; 36 in Mt Albert; 34 in Glenfield; 21 in Mt Roskill; 19 in Howick; 15 each in Māngere East and Remuera; 13 in Meadowbank; 12 in Pukekohe; 11 in Papatoetoe; 10 in St Johns; and 5 in St Heliers.

Private housing developer Ockham Residential, led by Mark Todd, has built 762 apartments since its establishment in 2009. A spokesperson for the developer said 481 apartments would reach settlement during 2023, helping address Auckland’s housing shortage.

The company reportedly plans to develop millions of new apartments on the former Unitec site in Ōwairaka, Mount Albert. Marutūāhu chair Paul Majurey said the iwi organisation was working with Ockham to name the development beside Unitec and the former Carrington Hospital Maungārongo. The partners plan to undertake property development over the next 20 years alongside work by Marutūāhu, Waiohua-Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in the wider Te Auaunga area.

 

Luxury apartment developments launch onto the market

Developer Richard Kroon’s latest apartment development. Photo: NZME

Among the many apartment developments springing up across Auckland are several luxury projects. Developer Richard Kroon’s new NZ$150,000,000 apartment development on Victoria Ave in Remuera is due for completion in October. Kroon said the five-storey building would contain 23 apartments and 52 basement car parks. The development is called Victoria Lane because it sits on the conveniently located Victoria Ave, with direct access through to Remuera Road.

In Auckland’s CBD, more luxury apartment developments are being built at pace, including the NZ$200,000,000, 56-storey Seascape development on Customs St East by China’s Shundi Group. Once complete, it will become New Zealand’s tallest building at 187 metres above ground, 9 metres taller than the NZ$300,000,000, 52-storey Pacifica a street away. Research shows the area from Auckland Art Gallery along Queen St to Britomart, including Wynyard Quarter, has become a focus for local and overseas investors seeking returns. The City Rail Link, involving investment of more than $4,000,000,000, appears to be a catalyst for these developments, with more major projects such as Mansons TCLM’s NZ$650,000,000 Fifty Albert and Shundi’s Seascape rising near the rail corridor.

 

Reflections on Auckland’s surge in apartments

1. Changing trends in Auckland’s property market: As Auckland house prices have surged in recent years, buyers’ needs have also changed. Developers need to consider how to adapt to market changes and create more attractive property developments. Investors need to assess and analyse the market accurately and adjust their investment strategies to meet market demand.

2. Apartment development potential outside Auckland’s CBD: Ongoing improvements to infrastructure outside the CBD, including transport, commercial and cultural facilities, are also an important reason people are attracted to buying property in these areas. This invites consideration of how improvements to urban infrastructure affect a city’s property market.

3. Intensifying market competition: As the number of new apartments increases, competition will become fiercer. Developers, builders and those involved in property transactions need to monitor market demand and offer more attractive products and services to gain a competitive advantage. They also need to understand market conditions and develop appropriate strategies and decisions as the market changes.