Owen Vaughan: OneRoof Editor on rising housing affordability

It's positive news for hubs like Auckland and Wellington where housing affordability gains have been most visible. 

Cotality NZ’s new report finds the national value-to-income ratio reached its lowest point since mid-2019 in the June quarter, at 7.5%.  

One Roof Editor Owen Vaughan told Ryan Bridge buyers should target housing pockets like Auckland's Otara, where's there a lot of value. 

He says prices have come down around 20% since Covid, and houses can go for around 600 thousand dollars. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yet more proof now is the perfect time to buy
a house, particularly if your first time buying. Figures from
Catality Show has to price income ratio back to pre
COVID levels. Mortgage repayments now make up around forty four
percent of the median household income. The peak was fifty
seven percent. That was back in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Owen Vaughan is the editor of One Roof and with
us this morning.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Good morning, Good morning, Ryan.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're saying, don't walk, but run to the bank, run.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
To the bank. Well, I know where people should run too,
because look when you look at these figures and it's positive,
but I think for a lot of people who are
out in the market, they see things like this and
they just go, Wow, houses still cost a lot. And
I think, yeah, affordability is improved, but I think it's
more about houses are just less unaffordable. But there are

(00:51):
a lot of pockets out in the market that first
one buyers should be targeting. And I think that's where
kind of know that the full should be that buyers
should be still looking for where there's value, and I
think there is a lot of value there.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Where Where are the pockets you're talking about.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, not a suburb that's on a lot of people's
radar for a lot of reasons. But o Tara Atara
is a suburb where right now kind of no houses
on full sections are probably the cheapest in Auckland. And
that's a fantastic kind of deal for kind of personal

(01:31):
buyers right now. Like back in the speak of the market,
O Tara was a million dollar suburb. That's hard to imagine,
but the price frenzy that was going on then drove
prices up in that south Aakland suburb which buzz really

(01:52):
a kind of an area where there was those social housing.
It wasn't kind of not a desirable suburb, not land,
but these prices rose to a million dollars and that's
because developers piled in thought they should buy flat sections
for reasonable prices, build townhouses, make a fortune that will collapse.

(02:15):
And now prices in Otara have come down round about
twenty percent since the COVID peak, and pretty decent houses
x statehouses are going from there for around about six
hundred thousand dollars. That's a house in Auckland for six
hundred thousand dollars, And.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Then what will I be worth in ten years?

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Well, that's the thing that currently there's a restriction imposed
by water care, and that means that developers can't build
new stock and connect it to the was for supply
sewerage supply. That means those houses are basically worthless developed developers.

(03:01):
But those work here. Restrictions will left in around about
ten years time, so no one should be kind of
piling into Atara for speculation. But it does mean that
that suburb, once there is water or care restrictions are lifted,
maybe in around about ten years, maybe to fifteen years,
they will suddenly be worth a lot more than what

(03:23):
they are now.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Really interesting stuff. I'm calling the bank. Appreciate you. Turn
on the.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Should all be piliament to Tara edit of One Room.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
For more familiar edition with Ryan Bridge.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Listen live to news talks.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
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