Auckland apartment sales market so dire that new 77-unit block to be rented
The Auckland apartment market is so dire that a developer is renting instead of selling all the units in one new block.
Ockham Residential CEO William Deihl said all the new 10-level 77-unit Whetū in Pt Chevalier would be rented, not sold.
“The market has been tough over the last few years so the building was specifically designed in a way that meant it could be for sale or switched to build-to-rent,” Deihl said.
At the now-opened neighbouring green 65-unit Toi on Thursday, only 24 units have been pre-sold, leaving no sales on 41 places, available from $550,000 to $945,000.
Deihl said Whetū would not become social housing or leased to one agency such as Kāinga Ora.
“These apartments will be individually rented,” he said, describing plans to unload units individually on to the market.
New units will go from $500/week for a studio to $700/week for a two-bedroom place, he said.
“People will be able to move in over the coming weeks.”
Asked when Whetū would be opened, he said Thursday’s event for about 100 people in the common residents’ area of Toi was “for both buildings”.
Both buildings have been built by the Marutūāhu-Ockham Partnership.
No separate opening for the larger Whetū was planned, he said.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop opened Toi on Thursday with Mayor Wayne Brown.
CBRE’s Tamba Carleton was at Thursday’s opening. She has found Auckland’s apartment market sluggish but the build-to-rent sector busy.
Few projects are planned and many have been shelved.
“Most of the abandonment[s] that have occurred in the past quarter are social housing projects that have experienced significant deferrals,” Carleton found of this year’s first quarter.
The size of the forward-work pipeline had shrunk by 15 projects lately.
In June, the Herald reported on the entire 46-unit Loxley Apartments in Takapuna up for mortgagee sale. The five-level block is at 32-34 Tennyson Ave.
The apartments have never been lived in but are owned by Tennyson GCO, which went into liquidation in April.
The title shows WFT Finance as holding a mortgage over the property, along with a list of other financiers.
Wayne Wright, co-founder and trustee of prominent charity the Wright Family Foundation in Tauranga, is listed by the Companies Office as WFT Finance’s sole director.
The family is assessed as being worth $400 million by the National Business Review, with the majority of their wealth derived from the sale of childcare operator Best Start.
The Loxley apartments remain unsold.
Gavin Lloyd of Bayleys is heading a new campaign for sales in the $300m unfinished Seascape apartments in the CBD.
Jillie Clarke, Shundi’s director of sales and marketing, said 55 units were unsold on levels eight to 20 and levels 41 to 45.
Clarke said Seascape units for sale are:
Some in the sector estimate it could cost $300m to finish Seascape and take three years.
Others hope it will only be about $180m and done in 18 months.
But how much needs fixing before work resumes remains a concern to contractors.
Icon is yet to sign the contract to finish the tower.
Extensive remediation of parts of that building will be needed, sources said.
Intumescent coating meant to protect steel was damaged by the building being exposed to the weather for more than a year since construction crews left when head contractor, China Construction, ordered tradies off, a source said.
But Harrison Shao, Shundi Customs’ general manager, said last month the structural integrity of New Zealand’s tallest, unfinished apartment tower has been confirmed.
A survey assessed the strength of the 56-level, 221-unit skyscraper.
The 21 Auckland apartment projects by Ockham are:
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.