Retaining Wall Experts In Auckland's Booming Property Development Market

It's no secret that the New Zealand property market is booming. With the median house price seeming to rise every month, owners, developers and investors are in a great place to capitalise on the record-setting trend. While the entire nation is experiencing this hot market, Auckland house prices have been leading the charge. While recent lockdowns may have temporarily slowed the trend, as the super city continues to open up it should come as no surprise that this trend will continue to reveal itself.

The figures speak for themselves. In order to measure the changing value of the property market, experts refer to the Real Estate Institute’s Price Index. This index rose by 30.6% in the year ended July compared to an annual rate of 29% in June. While more recent figures will be skewed by the effects of Auckland’s lockdown, residents of the city spending most of their time indoors between September and November did little to prevent the Auckland median house price from rising to $1,175,000. This is a 27% increase in comparison from year to year. While it will be interesting to see what a post-lockdown Auckland property market looks like, it's clear that it hasn’t taken any steam out of the hot market.

The story is similar across the rest of Aotearoa. While Auckland may be making headlines, the national median price is also on the rise. The entirety of the market saw an adjustment of 2.4% from June, up a total of around 25.1% on July last year at $826,000. While this varies from location to location, the general trend for all cities in New Zealand is on the rise. Tauranga rose to a median house price of $760.000, Wellington $800,000, Queenstown $860,000 and Christchurch $500,000.

A major driver of this boom is a lack of availability, as the demand for property is still exceeded by the supply. On the flip side, a record number of consents were given out last year, creating the opportunity for more new home builds to make their way onto the market.

One surprising factor given the increased price of housing is the buying activity of first home buyers, or FHB, in the market. There are a range of reasons that could be driving this, from media hype to governmental intervention on property speculation, but the sale of homes to FHB amounted to 26.4% of total sales. With FHB making up over a quarter of all house sales, their purchasing behaviours are becoming more and more important to take note of. If you’re looking to capitalize on your property investment, optimising for first home buyers is a great strategy to ensure a great return on investment.

One of the major stats that stood out about FHB is their preference for freestanding homes, as opposed to apartments, townhouses or homes that share a wall. Freestanding homes make up 72% of FHB purchases in Q3 2021. This is a strong indication that the land that surrounds the property plays a significant role in an FHB’s choice of property so it may not be enough to hope that the interior of the home itself is enough to ensure a sale.

But perhaps you lie on the other end of the spectrum, looking to increase your return on investment by subdividing to build additional houses. This is a great step as it directly addresses the supply issue, creating more houses whilst also allowing you to take advantage of the increase in house median price. It is an opportunity to optimise and leverage the section you own for greater financial yields. While this may be at an initial cost, with the average house sale taking 31 days, the risk to reward ratio is in your favour.

No matter what your motivation is, transforming your home's outdoor space prior to sale is a great way of adding value that translates to a higher sale price. When a market is as bullish as the current Auckland housing market is, reinvesting in your home can pay back exponentially at the time of sale. However, while the trend of rising house prices seems to have no discernable end, it still pays to opt for solutions that can be done quickly and efficiently.

Many homes in New Zealand are built on untamed, uneven sections. This is just a by-product of the country's unique landscape. Because of this, there is often a hidden potential in the tard of these homes - a potential that retaining walls can unlock. Build2 Construction are experts in planning, designing and building retaining walls that add form and function to a home's outdoor space. By evening out your section, retaining walls allow you to reclaim space that would otherwise be unusable. This optimises outdoor space, creating a section that can be perceived as “bigger” while bringing in a sense of verticality. Retaining walls also offer practical application in the sense of adding level sections for outdoor seating, paths for easier access, and retaining wall gardens can be used to create a sense of separations and boundaries for subdividing.

When it comes to investing in your home with the aim of increasing its sale price, you are always going to be walking a fine to ensure that the value the project brings to your property is more than the cost to construct it. Retaining walls are perfect to transform your outdoor space because they are a budget-friendly project that produces exceptional results. The build time is relatively quick when compared to other construction projects, meaning it is a fast and efficient way to breathe new life into a tired outdoor space.

Build2 are expert retaining wall contractors in Auckland. We are highly experienced and work with you to create tailor-made solutions to make the most out of your outdoor space. If you are looking to make the most out of the property market and want to quickly get your home up to standard for sale, a garden makeover is a great starting point. Get in contact with the team at Build2 today to find out more about our range of construction services.

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