Stonefields (Mt Wellington)

[MaxM]

Hi guys,

I've searched over the forum but couldn't find any info/opinions on the Stonefields project in Mt Wellington.

We are looking at purchasing a house, and originally looked all over the eastern bays (Kohi, St Heliers, Mission Bay etc), and were surprised to find that there are no decent houses available for under or around $1ml. You can obviously get a nice spacious old house, and perhaps once invest further $100k into reconstruction it will be stunning, but such funds are not available.

And then I drove past Stonefields and decided to have a drive through the area and see what it's all about.

At the moment for the price tag you'd be getting a much nicer, brand new house (they call them luxury villas), and that seems to be very appealing (yet still close to city and minutes away from the other suburbs i mentioned above).

The area is under development at the moment, and the plan seems to be quite exiting for the area: lots of parks, new primary school, special shopping area etc. . But I couldn't find any real opinions anywhere on the Internet about the area, the potential it has and any feedback about how the houses are built...

Has anyone come across that development? Any opinions would be much appreciated.

[eri]

on 3 sides you have

saint john's

glen innes

point england

panmure

none of which are too hot according to this guide on auckland suburbs

http://www.auckland-suburb-guide.co.nz/

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential/for-sale/auction-464261467.htm

i don't think you can it compare with kohi, st.hel or mission bay

[SwissKiwi]

Personally I think the houses are expensive for the location (can be $850k with a tiny section) which is surrounded by average suburbs and semi industrial.

Also it's low down - in an old quarry.

Also its a bland readymade kind of suburb with no character.

Also its not very close to the city really is it.

[stonefieldscommunity]

I can tell you Stonefields is a fantastic place to live, a true sense of community. Need some help to purchase let me know I work for Barfoot & Thompson and live here.

[SwissKiwi]

I can tell you Stonefields is a fantastic place to live, a true sense of community. Need some help to purchase let me know I work for Barfoot & Thompson and live here.

So about as impartial as can be!


But seriously $850k for a 3bed apartment in a quarry that is not yet built.

I'm not seeing the value - feel free to explain.

http://www.barfoot.co.nz/Saltus3Study.aspx

[JABlog]

http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=87380

2500 houses to be built.

[MaxM]

Personally I think the houses are expensive for the location (can be $850k with a tiny section) which is surrounded by average suburbs and semi industrial.

Also it's low down - in an old quarry.

Also its a bland readymade kind of suburb with no character.

Also its not very close to the city really is it.

Thanks for the feedback.

The problem here is that for 900-1mln you can't get anything near as nice in any of the suburbs that I've listed above.

Areas like Panmure and the rest are not being considered. The only reason why Stonefield is being considered, not taking the address into a consideration, is because the actual area is going through massive developments and by the looks of it will be an extremely attractive little suburb within a suburb (in my humble opinion).

However I have to agree that the prices for apartments are really high, I don't see much point in getting an apartment outside of the city or the fringe.

I guess the main question here, what do you actually get for the given amount of money...

PS it's 15-17 min into the city, so I don't consider it as being far :P

[MaxM]

I can tell you Stonefields is a fantastic place to live, a true sense of community. Need some help to purchase let me know I work for Barfoot & Thompson and live here.

Appreciate what you are saying, though would be good to hear it from someone who is not biased

[eri]

15-17 min to the city is excellent

is that 9pm on monday night, which would be typically quiet traffic

or 9am monday morning, which would be typically horrific traffic?

i haven't looked much at what is available at stonefields

but if it is basically apartment living

why wouldn't you look for something more central for less

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential/for-sale/auction-455943537.htm

[revdev]

What would your exit strategy be if everything went Pete Tong in your private life, 6 months after your bought it?

If there is (supposedly) 2500 places being built, how many others could be for sale at the same time? Would next guy give you $850k for it?

[Maccachic]

I would be wary buying something thats not built yet. How do you know what the quality will be? What protection do you have against the developer going under - there seems to be quite a few tales on here in this regard? 2500 houses I doubt you will miss out if you wait for a bit.

[8ace]

We bought in Stonefields late last year and are very happy so far. Compared to other similar sized properties around the Eastern suburbs you are getting a serious bang for your buck in terms of property size and build quality. I also think the best of Stonefields is yet to come with the shops opening up next year and further development of the school and landscaping. Admittedly, this sort of development isn't for everyone and we were very sceptical at first when people suggested it to us but the more we came here for a look, the more it made sense.
At a guess, I'd say two thirds at least of the detached family homes have been built now so and every time a new one comes up for sale it seems to go very quickly so it's proving very popular. There are also terraced homes being built which are similarly selling fast. They are building the first apartment block now and agree with some other comments that they do seem expensive. I think how quickly or not those apartments sell will determine, whether more blocks are built. I just don't see Aucklanders as being ready to pay that sort of price for an apartment which isn't in the city.

[eri]

thanks for the update 8ace

i take it you bought a detached family home?

can we know the spec.size and price?

[KatieR]

Looked at Stonefields, and you can do better for that money. The construction is shoddy, the finishes are mediocre and the $850k will get you much more, almost anywhere in Auckland. Also, the construction of so many new homes means that you will not be able to sell your used one for a premium as it will be competing with the continual development. It will be years before you will break even.

[8ace]

thanks for the update 8ace

i take it you bought a detached family home?

can we know the spec.size and price?

We bought a 4 bed, 3 1/2 bathroom, 3 living area detached house 250 sqm living space including double garage. Plot area 394m. Price was towards the amount discussed.

All the homes are built by Fletchers (or subsidiaries of them) so don't be concerned about build quality despite another comment. The capital value comment is a valid one but I would say there's only maybe one more year of detached house building on the far side of the development so you should see capital gain sometime after that. We searched long and hard towards the Eastern Bays and prices were crazy and apparantly it's getting much worse. I still believe Stonefields offers good value for money.