Best First Home Buy?
Posted on 13 FEB
Q: We are first home buyers and are wondering what your advice would be re buying an apartment versus a small home or home unit? Our concern is really around which will be the best investment for us when we (hopefully) move up to a family home in another 5 or so years.
Jerry D.
A: We are often asked about this, and it’s quite a complex subject, so we will be answering this in two parts - Part Two next week.
In the past, we have always said “buy land, because they’re not making any more of it” which would suggest that a unit or house with a bit of land would be a better investment than an apartment.
But let’s look at the facts: House values in Auckland have risen by 60.63% since 2012, while apartment values have risen 57.21% (Source homes.co.nz); not a huge difference really. So in terms of future sale price you are probably ok either way.
What may be of more importance to you is how the two differ in terms of initial cost, and on-going maintenance.
Here’s a real-life example: We recently bought an apartment in Remuera, rather than a house/unit. It suits our real estate lifestyle of course, being secure and low-maintenance. But what surprised us was what we saw at the auction. The apartment came up for auction immediately after the auction for a 75m2 brick and tile unit in Royal Oak with about 60m2 of garden/grounds. Now you should know that our apartment is 115m2 and is located in double Grammar zone. It also has great harbour views from a good-sized terrace, and the complex sports a swimming pool and tennis court, all built in the 1970’s.
Now, back to the auction: The home unit was fiercely bid for and ended up at just over $1.1m! Ours was up next and we paid well under $1m, and were left wondering why we hadn’t had to pay more.I can hear people saying: Yes, but you will have a body corporate to pay every year. Yes, we do, and next week we will go into the ins-and-outs of body corp fees and general home maintenance costs. We will also talk about other apartment options.
Search
Recent Posts
