Home values in eight Auckland suburbs have crashed at least 30% since the market peak, new data reveals. More than two-thirds of the city is at least 20% down on the historic high.
“It’s the property equivalent of a Black Friday sale for buyers, particularly first-time buyers,” one real estate expert told Stuff.
Sean White and wife Toni bought their first home at the peak of the market in 2021, lost their life savings when they sold it three years later, and now live full-time in a motorhome.
Rather than wait years “in misery” for the market to recover while interest rates doubled, White said they decided to sell and take “the hit”. He then quit his job, bought a bus - later traded in for a motorhome - and they hit the road.
The couple bought what he called “the cheapest house in Auckland at the time”, a two-bedroom townhouse in Waiuku, about an hour southwest of the CBD. It was purchased for $495,000 in October 2021 when Auckland was still in lockdown.
