House in West auckland vs apartment in Auckland city

[steiner]

Hi there,
could someone give me some tips what would be the smarter choice
the house in west Auckland up to 400000 dollars or a apartment up to 260 000 in Auckland city and wait until the house market goes down and then buy a house??Are the prices of houses ever go down again or will it rise even mor?I have been told that this is a house market bubble and it will burst in the next 2 or 3 years.
Which is a upcoming area around Auckland which it is worth to buy a house ?West auckland?
It will be my first property so doesnt want to make a mistake.
Thanks

[Davo36]

Wait, I'll just get my crystal ball out...

Mate, this question comes up about once a fortnight here. The truth is, no one really knows, we all just take our best educated guesses.

I suggest you join the APIA and talk to people there about what they see happening etc.

Best of luck.

[PTILoveYou]

My bet would be on houses.

Simple reason that we are not building cheap ones anymore, and the land is just not there in the existing suburbs.

While apartments there will be more and more of them, which will affect the supply side.

[Leftette]

Not to mention the apartment's unpredictable body corp fees, compared to both property's unpredictable rates bills (but as that applies to both, they cancel each other out).

[PTILoveYou]

Not to mention the apartment's unpredictable body corp fees, compared to both property's unpredictable rates bills (but as that applies to both, they cancel each other out).

One thing that worries me the most about apartments is water issues.

Even newish apartments have leak problems... which can lead to major repair costs, and also devalue of the complex...

[forbsie]

I would also look carefully at the structure of the body corp.

Can have insurance implications.

[BenniGholami]

I personally would prefer to grab the house for sale because of the size of it which is definitely worth its price tag. However, there are a few other factors that you need to consider before deriving with any decisions at all. The west and the east are two completely different areas, so you have to really know your needs. You have to see if your work or school is within favourable location and try to decide from there. That is just one factor that you can ponder on. I am sure there are more.

[rzdual]

Up and coming

Hi there,
could someone give me some tips what would be the smarter choice
the house in west Auckland up to 400000 dollars or a apartment up to 260 000 in Auckland city and wait until the house market goes down and then buy a house??Are the prices of houses ever go down again or will it rise even mor?I have been told that this is a house market bubble and it will burst in the next 2 or 3 years.
Which is a upcoming area around Auckland which it is worth to buy a house ?West auckland?
It will be my first property so doesnt want to make a mistake.
Thanks

Like the others I can't predict the future but I purchased in Glen Eden and it's going really well. The prices here have been going up steadily but nothing crazy.

Anticipating the tunnel opening in 2017 I think Kelston would be a good area to look in for affordable homes. I'm not sure you'll have any luck. You'd probably have to settle for a 2 bedroom in Kelston.

If I was looking for a 3 bedroom under 400 I'd be looking for something in Massey or Ranui. Kelston/Glen Eden seems to have broken the 450k mark on 3 bedrooms.

[Rosco]

For the rental property, you would also look at the gross yield for the two properties and compare.

Whether it is personal or a rental, you should be looking at the overall costs and what you can afford? An extra $140,000 mortgage is going to cost you $8,400 more per year in interest at 6%, or an extra $162 per week.

Can you afford this extra cost? What about if interest rates go up? And does your bank require principal repayments as well?

As others have mentioned, with the apartment there will be body corporate costs. With either you might be able to rent out an extra room.

So you need to look at the likely income, less all expenses and check this can work for you financially.

Ross