West Auckland covers a large geographical area, from the city outskirts to the coast.

It includes popular suburbs Avondale, Glen Eden, New Lynn and Titirangi, then extends over the Waitakere Ranges to the Tasman Sea, along the shores of Whatipu, Karekare, Piha, Bethells and Muriwai, before arcing back towards the city via Kumeu, Westgate, Massey, Henderson and Te Atatū.

The region is known for its rugged beauty and eclectic charm. Nature reserves, wild surf beaches, hiking and mountain bike trails, orchards and vineyards dot the countryside.

Culture thrives here too, with hidden gems around every corner - from quaint cafés nestled in the bush to colourful art galleries and vibrant community markets that showcase local crafts and produce.

The popular Waitakere Ranges are the backdrop for most of the west’s suburbs. The ranges have 27,700ha of pristine native bush, scenic waterfalls and more than 250 kilometres of walking tracks, yet they are only a 40-minute drive from the city centre.

There is an appreciation for the environment in the west, with a lot of the locals passionate about conservation, and many being engaged in initiatives like native bush restoration, coastal clean-ups and species protection.

Beyond the ranges, and alongside the tranquil Manukau Harbour bays of French Bay, Little Huia and Cornwallis is the famous Piha Beach, where tourists and locals flock each summer to enjoy its strong surf, black sand and rugged scenery.

Further north is Lake Wainamu for a peaceful and scenic day out, and for keen walkers an hour-and-a-half excursion brings them to Muriwai Regional Park and Woodhill Forest, a haven for mountain bikers, horse riders and dog walkers and set against a windswept and rugged coastline. Muriwai is one of the few mainland gannet breeding colonies in, New Zealand. About 1200 gannet pairs nest there from August to March every year.

West Auckland is also home to New Zealand’s diverse and prosperous film industry, with production facilities wowing audiences across the globe with expert production, art, VFX, and animation specialists. Henderson alone features multiple studios including Auckland Film Studios and South Pacific Pictures. Henderson is being reimagined as a flourishing urban eco-centre with sustainability woven into every aspect of life.

The west is also home to Auckland’s oldest wine region.

It also boasts a diverse range of property, including some of the city’s most affordable housing, right through to modern builds, coastal retreats and expansive lifestyle blocks.

CoreLogic’s latest data on the top 10 suburbs in the west found house prices have dropped from 1 per cent through to 4.7 per cent from March 1 last year to March 1 this year.

The biggest drop was at Te Atatu Peninsula where prices fell from $1,082,100 to $1,031,450 during the March year, followed by West Harbour prices, which fell 4.6 per cent from $1,266,200 to $1,208,250 and Glendene where values fell 4.4 per cent from $926,950 to $885,900.

In Titirangi, one of the higher priced suburbs, prices slipped 3.1 per cent from $1,166,800 to $1,130,500.

Rental market dogged by unsold new builds

Rental stock in West Auckland is at one of the highest levels ever seen. It’s been exacerbated by the number of newly developed properties dumped onto the rental market, says Graham McIntyre, West Auckland Property Management owner.

He has been in the real-estate business for 20 years and says there is a significant supply of mainly two and three-bedroom new properties in he rental pool because developers can’t get the return they need from selling their stock.

“It’s been happening for the past 12 months, but we had anticipated it,” McIntyre says.

Properties earmarked for removal by developers, so new developments could be started, have also been put into the rental pool until the housing market improves.

He says West Auckland, in some ways, has been the centre of new development as Auckland Council planning rules changed.

“The significant increase in rental stock has pulled rents back by 10 per cent from last year. Rents can vary from $550-750 a week. Typically two-to three-bedroom houses were in the $650-800 range but rents have slipped significantly.”

McIntyre’s company recently had a brand new house at Ranui that would have rented from $770 a week a year ago, but the market rate is now about $610-620 a week.

He is finding developers are hedging the market. They look at rents on Trade Me and then undercut to get cashflow and try to achieve a reasonable tenancy arrangement.

As each developer rachets down rents, by default, that starts to spiral the market down and it is now in free fall.

Price correction

McIntyre says whether there will be a correction is unanswerable because development has not stopped and there are estimates of a 40-50 per cent oversupply of rentals on the market.

“Potentially, developers with unsold stock in the rental pool might be able to get it onto the sales market in the next 12 months and that will help alleviate the rentals oversupply.”

Some of the new properties don’t have garages, off-street parking or any lawn or backyard. Under Auckland Council’s relaxed planning rules, developers have far more leeway to build these types of properties, but they are difficult for McIntyre’s company to rent and other agencies to sell.

“We could see it coming a mile away because of the pushback from the market was significant right from the get go. People want garaging, they want off-street parking and to be in a position where they have the flexibility of good services within the home to satisfy ease of living.”

McIntyre says developers are vested in working with the council rather than the market. They have listened to the wrong people because the council was never going to build, and never going to buy, property. Council planners are only going to stipulate what their preference is and unfortunately that is what has been pushed forward.

Some will end up as slums, McIntyre believes. “Our pick is if you have a property and have to go to the lowest common denominator of renter or social housing in order to support that property, the outcome is never going to be great.”

West Auckland renters want safe areas to live in above anything else. Typically that includes Hobsonville Point and Hobsonville, which have a high percentage of new homes. Parts of Massey are regarded as not being so attractive because of the crime statistics. Other areas, such as Glen Eden and Avondale that have good transport infrastructure are also attractive to renters.

Values creep up slowly

Demand for buying homes in West Auckland started off well at the beginning of the year but tailed off by March, Todd Murray, business owner of Harcourts Northwest Realty says.

“Demand matched supply well, but in the middle of February it became a bit slower in getting deals done.

“However, buyers are far more engaged than they were 12 months ago. It was probably a case of difficulty in getting finance then.”

Because there is far more choice for buyers they are taking longer to put their signature on a deal. “It would be weeks longer rather than months in getting a deal closed,” Murray says.

In January the agency was getting offers on properties within the first 10 days of them hitting the market and auctions were being brought forward.

Despite the market faltering, Murray says there is a willingness from sellers to meet price expectations. “It is actually not a bad time to be buying or selling. Most vendors have adjusted their ideas on values in the past 36 months.”

With interest rates falling, he believes many buyers are now thinking it is time to pull the trigger and get into the market, particularly as there are more houses available.

“Obviously buyers are going to take their time and compare every property with others.”

There has also been a slow drift of investors back into the market, which Murray says hasn’t been seen for some time.

“Compared to last year there are a lot more investors around and concentrating on cashflows and yields.”

He says some are holding off, waiting to see if the Reserve Bank drops the OCR much further. “It’s at their peril, though. There is a lot of speculation the two-year fixed mortgage rate will settle in to the four to five per cent range, but buyers don’t want to leave it too long as some banks are already offering a two-year term just below five per cent and many economists don’t see it moving much more.”

Investor activity

While there are more buyers around, Murray says the market is not flooded with them. “If the OCR keeps coming down that buyer pool could become large which puts first-home buyers and investors in direct competition, which happened during the pandemic.”

He says while the legislation around property investment derailed many investors’ plans to buy or increase their portfolios and first-home buyers gained the upper hand, those rules have now been walked back and the competition between them could heat up again.

He points out though, that many investors will still have to top up their mortgages unless they bought incredibly well. Long-term investment gains aren’t really there yet.

Many investors looking to buy are still contemplating new builds, where yields can be calculated a bit better and there is lower maintenance. “There are a few developers willing to take reasonable prices for their stock to move it on.

For selling price points, Murray says the busiest market is in the $900,000 to $1.2 million range in Waitākere City. “The area has a lot of first-home buyers in the under $1 million range. West Auckland is still one of the most affordable areas in which to buy in Auckland.”

If the housing market is not disrupted by local or international events this year, Murray predicts there will be a small amount of growth of between of 1-to-5 per cent in house values over the next 12-15 months.

He says there is buyer positivity and buoyancy now the cost of money is starting to come down.