Even at NZD 130,000/year, unreasonable to relocate to Auckland central.

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kingdragonfly

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Topic # 238272 10-Jul-2018 09:27

I was interviewing for a position in Auckland at NZD $130,000, USD $90,000, Euro €76,000.

For perspective the median salary in Auckland is NZD $76,000, USD $52,000, Euro €44,000.

Since I'm 54, I want to pay off any mortgage in 11 years.

I have a NZD $400,000 deposit, so way better than most.

Based on 5% interest, I calculated that NZD $815,000 was 50% of my after-tax income. This doesn't include the usual $4,000 to $9,000 rates and body corporate.

Annoyingly when you put in a maximum house/apartment price in TradeMe of $815,000, you get mostly auctions / tinders / negos that are nowhere close to $815,000.

For example, TradeMe returned a one bedroom apartment, under auction, when I said use $800,000 maximum. The apartment sold for NZD $1.4 million.

BarFoot reported in 2017 that the median price is about NZD 1.1 million, USD $750,000, Euro €640,000

And median rent NZD $900/week, USD $615, Euro €523

Since I hate driving and need more than 1 bedroom, I can't see myself relocating to Auckland.

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Reply # 2052423 10-Jul-2018 09:35

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That's why it's a housing crisis and not just a housing problem.

Good thing we've got one of those central government things who are supposed to keep problems from turning into crises. If only the last lot had actually done their job properly...

MikeB4

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Reply # 2052437 10-Jul-2018 09:38

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My wife was asked to move to Auckland last year but decided she would rather wait for the icing of Hades, she decided to change roles instead. After all in Wellington we can have a whale of a time.

Mike
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Dairyxox

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Reply # 2052438 10-Jul-2018 09:39

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Buy further south and take the train.

trig42

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Reply # 2052439 10-Jul-2018 09:39

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There are plenty of apartments, 2 bedroom plus, 60-80 sq.m for under $800,000.

https://www.realestate.co.nz/residential/sale?by=featured&lct=s2411&maxp=900000&minbe=2&minp=600000&ns=3095&ns=2971&ns=617&ns=4297&ns=3838&ql=20&scat=2&scat=4&scat=1

Look at Grafton, Eden Terrace, Newmarket, Parnell. Even a few in the city.

What about Waiheke - 2 bedroom houses for under $850k (not many, but they are there)?

reven

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Reply # 2052443 10-Jul-2018 09:46

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815k would get you a decent sized house south, 4 bedroom around 200m2. The train is a really good option for south auckland.

I personally went south because I wanted a larger house. 120m2 house on a 400m2 section in ellerslie vs a 280m2 house on a 820m2 section with pool in south auckland.

There are nice places in south auckland. The Gardens, Wattle Downs, Conifer Grove, Karaka Lakes, Addison. Conifer Grove and Addison would be best for the train. These are just the places I know of, there would be more.

kingdragonfly

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Reply # 2052444 10-Jul-2018 09:47

I'm not familiar with Auckland, but Google is showing a two hour commute from Waiheke Island.

kingdragonfly

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Reply # 2052459 10-Jul-2018 10:02

reven:The train is a really good option for south auckland.

I'd like to get to central Ponsonby. It looks like Britomart is the closest train station, then a 30 minute bus ride at 8 am.

Is that right?

trig42

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Reply # 2052460 10-Jul-2018 10:03

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kingdragonfly: I'm not familiar with Auckland, but Google is showing a two hour commute from Waiheke Island.

Depends where in Auckland you work.

If you are central, then commute from home to work would be about 70 minutes. 10-15 minutes home on Waiheke to ferry (assume you drive, add another 15 minutes if you catch a bus on Waiheke). 40 minutes on ferry, 10-15 to walk to work from ferry buildings. Repeat in reverse on the way home.

(I live on Waiheke, I leave home at 0625, bus to ferry, ferry to town 0700-0740, drive to work using my own car which I keep in the Downtown car park, at my desk in the Wairau Park area on the shore just after 0800).

It is a very easy commute though - no waiting in traffic, and no stress. You can read a book, catch up on work, have a wine, play cards etc.

Not saying it is for everyone, but it is an option (and you'd probably get more capital gain out of a house there than a city apartment).

Agree with others too - look south or west, and train to work.

trig42

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Reply # 2052464 10-Jul-2018 10:07

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kingdragonfly:
reven:The train is a really good option for south auckland.

I'd like to get to central Ponsonby. It looks like Britomart is the closest train station, then a 30 minute bus ride at 8 am.

Is that right?

That would be about right - the bus would be quicker than that though I think - should only be about 15 minutes (excluding time waiting for bus).

If you are looking at work in Ponsonby, look at housing in Eden Terrace, or even Pt Chev., Westmere (though not many apartments around there). Ponsonby is smack bang in the middle of the most expensive real estate in the country.

MikeAqua

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Reply # 2052469 10-Jul-2018 10:12

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Yeah, we did the maths and decided to maintain a lifestyle we enjoy, dodge traffic and have a debt:income I could sleep at night with, we would need a household income knocking on 700k. Can't see that happening for both of us soon/ever.

Mike

reven

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Reply # 2052470 10-Jul-2018 10:13

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it use to take me an hour to walk from britomart to ponsonby (arch hill) so 30 minute bus ride sounds err wrong, 15mins is probably more accurate, plus wait time.

kryptonjohn

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Reply # 2052472 10-Jul-2018 10:15

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deadlyllama:

That's why it's a housing crisis and not just a housing problem.

Good thing we've got one of those central government things who are supposed to keep problems from turning into crises. If only the last lot had actually done their job properly...

Yeah well if you look at a chart of price increases over time you'll see that you could argue the last lot before the last lot should have done their job property. There's long lead and lag times in macro economics and the effects of changes made.

Maybe we should leave the political nit picking out of this discussion and put it in another thread.

kryptonjohn

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Reply # 2052473 10-Jul-2018 10:16

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MikeB4:

My wife was asked to move to Auckland last year but decided she would rather wait for the icing of Hades, she decided to change roles instead. After all in Wellington we can have a whale of a time.

I see what you did there :-)

Now stop bothering the poor whale and get back to work!

kryptonjohn

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Reply # 2052478 10-Jul-2018 10:22

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kingdragonfly:
reven:The train is a really good option for south auckland.

I'd like to get to central Ponsonby. It looks like Britomart is the closest train station, then a 30 minute bus ride at 8 am.

Is that right?

Property prices do correlate very closely to availability of an easy commute to the CBD, and Ponsonby is in the expensive part of that phenomenon.

If you want a compromise between good timing/availability of a commute into the CBD (on the train, buses are too slow IMO) then I think you should look around the Orakei, Meadowbank, Glen Innes, Panmure train stations' areas (Eastern Line) or Newmarket, Remuera, Greenlane stations (Southern Line). It gets cheaper as you move out, and the Southern Line stations I mentioned are significantly price inflated by being in the Grammar school zones so probably avoid those.

sbiddle

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Reply # 2052480 10-Jul-2018 10:24

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kryptonjohn:

deadlyllama:

That's why it's a housing crisis and not just a housing problem.

Good thing we've got one of those central government things who are supposed to keep problems from turning into crises. If only the last lot had actually done their job properly...

Yeah well if you look at a chart of price increases over time you'll see that you could argue the last lot before the last lot should have done their job property. There's long lead and lag times in macro economics and the effects of changes made.

Maybe we should leave the political nit picking out of this discussion and put it in another thread.

NZ's problem was that we didn't suffer as a result of the GFC (apart from a few dodgy finance companies going bust) because the Aussie banks we all love to hate saved our ass. We never had the re-correction that pretty much every other country apart from Australia had, and as a result have had year after year of constant growth, some of which was unsustainable.

The problem we have now is a re-correction will be incredibly harmful to our entire economy.

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