Aucklanders flee the city for more affordable housing

Wednesday, 13 June 2018

Former Aucklanders Joe Carey, 29, and his wife Vanessa, say they've got no regrets after buying in New Plymouth.

Joe Carey and his wife jumped ship from Auckland to New Plymouth in search of more affordable housing - he says they've never looked back.

Housing affordability is still getting worse in the super city according to an official Government measure. The Housing Affordability Measure's (HAM) latest results are only current to March 2017, but show worsening affordability in Auckland on a trend line similar to recent years.

It also looked at whether renting households would be 'highly stressed' if paying mortgage costs, and found the average household would have just $222 left over every week after paying mortgage costs for a single person, or $337 for a couple.

Almost two thirds (63.4 per cent) of Auckland renters fell below that benchmark, up from under half in 2012.

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After originally saving to buy in Auckland, Joe Carey was able to buy a five-bedroom house on a good-sized section for $420,000.

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Massey University professor Paul Spoonley says the number of Aucklanders jumping ship to the regions is increasing.

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Two years ago Carey, a 29-year-old teacher, and his wife Vanessa bought a house that would likely go for double the price in Auckland.

'We got a five bedroom house and about 1000 sq m of land,' he said. 'And it only cost us $420,000. In Auckland, $420,000 would get you, maybe, a one-bedroom apartment, jam-packed next to someone else in some crappy living situation.'

Carey's house is in Merrilands, not far from New Plymouth's CBD, while he works at Highlands Intermediate School.

'We were saving for Auckland, but we realised that actually getting out of Auckland made sense, because I'm a teacher, so I get paid the same wherever.'

Nicola Kellerman has lived in Auckland all her life, but she and her husband Tim Hunter and their two-year-old daughter Daisy are planning a move to New Plymouth.

When the couple got married, they decided they didn't want to have flatmates, Carey said.

'So when we decided to buy a house the choice just couldn't be Auckland.'

AUCKLAND'S EXODUS

Carey is part of an exodus as Aucklanders flee the city in search of cheaper pastures.

Figures from Statistics NZ show that since 2000, thousands more people have left Auckland than arrived from elsewhere in New Zealand, although the city's overall population increases due to immigration.

Massey University professor Paul Spoonley said the number of Aucklanders migrating elsewhere had continued to increase, 'especially after 2014 and 2015'.

'A major reason was the growing unaffordability of Auckland housing,' Spoonley said.

'First home buyers are now much higher in other parts of New Zealand especially when the ratio of average house prices are only 3-4 times the average household income, compared with 9 times – or more – in Auckland.'

The regions that benefit most from the spillover from the Auckland housing market are Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, he said.

He said people in the Auckland exodus generally fell into two distinct groups.

'One are first home buyers who are looking to actually get into the housing market. Then there are the retirees who are looking to cash up and move for lifestyle reasons – Tauranga is a key destination.

'They gain from the prices available for Auckland houses and they can buy another house and have cash.'

'WE'RE OVER IT'

Nicola Kellerman has lived in Auckland all her life, but next month, Kellerman, her husband Tim Hunter and their two-year-old daughter Daisy are planning a move to New Plymouth.

'We're so over not being able to own a house,' she said.

The couple have lived in their Glen Eden home for four and a half years and never had a rent increase.

Their landlord recently told them about his intention to sell in September right when their second baby was due.

Kellerman and Hunter were looking for a house even before they heard the news.

Last year Stuff followed Kellerman and her partner as they looked for a house in Auckland.

Now they've made the decision to leave.

She said she was sick of seeing her time evaporate in traffic and so much money going to rent.

The couple were able to save little in their year-long house hunt but she said they had accumulated a 'good stash' in their Kiwisaver. Just not enough for a house in Auckland.

Her husband took a job interview in New Plymouth on a whim but he got the job and the couple had visited New Plymouth when they could to look for houses.

Kellerman said rent there seemed to be slightly more expensive than in Auckland and admitted some of the available housing stock was 'pretty gross'.

'It's a start,' she said.