Hot housing market sign of Auckland's success

Auckland’s buoyant housing market demonstrates that the region is an attractive place to live and work for both New Zealanders and migrants.

House prices are expected to remain firm amid forecasts of 1,000,000 extra Aucklanders over the next 30 years. The strong market is a signal of the region’s success and the need to plan for that success; Auckland Council is taking action to boost supply to make housing more affordable and accessible.

Geoff Cooper, Auckland Council’s chief economist, last night (Wednesday) noted that Auckland house prices have soared 124 per cent since 2000, while measures of GDP per capita grew by only 47 per cent over the same period.

“Some of the acceleration in Auckland house prices we’ve seen, especially during the past decade, is a symptom of the success of our region,” said Mr Cooper. “People are naturally predisposed to locate themselves close to infrastructure, jobs and other amenities. Auckland has the most jobs and the highest paying jobs in the country”.

Mr Cooper was joined by three of New Zealand’s top economists - Shamubeel Eaqub of NZIER, Westpac’s Dominick Stephens and Arthur Grimes of MOTU - to discuss the issues facing Auckland’s housing market over the next 30 years at Auckland Conversations – a regular Auckland Council event.

“An environment of continued low interest rates and solid population growth is bound to underpin median house sales prices, which rose 8.4 per cent over the past 12 months,” said Mr Cooper.

Auckland Council is shaping policy to boost housing supply across the region through its Auckland Plan, a 30-year prospectus for the region. The plan, which complements the Government’s housing affordability proposals, will see the building of 60-70 per cent of new housing requirements in greenfield and brownfield developments within existing urban boundaries, and 30-40 per cent in satellite areas such as Warkworth and Pukekohe.

Auckland’s Mayor says the region must get the housing solutions right so the region can accommodate the expected future population growth.

“The key is building new houses where there is existing infrastructure, near main transport links and closer to where people work,” says Len Brown.

Mr Brown says the Unitary Plan, which will outline where and how Aucklanders can build, will help deliver housing availability for the region.

“Aucklanders want housing choice – our role is to create an affordable, quality, compact city providing mixed density housing involving both greenfields and brownfields development.

“By achieving the right housing density, land use regulations and focusing on faster processing of consents, we will achieve what was set out in the Auckland Plan.”

For more information on the Unitary Plan visit www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/unitaryplan, or to view the Auckland Plan, visit  www.theaucklandplan.govt.nz