#1 Auckland
The country’s largest city is at the top of our list.
How come? Auckland house prices tend to rise faster than in other parts of the country.
Since 1992, Auckland house prices have increased 6.7% a year on average. The rest of the country only increased 6.0% on average (April ’25, REINZ).
Yes, house prices are expensive and the yields can be lower than small towns, but Auckland looks about 9.5% undervalued.
That means in the medium term I think they’ll increase in value faster than the rest of the country. This presents a buying opportunity.
The other factor that makes Auckland the one to watch is that the population is quickly growing.
Stats NZ forecasts Auckland’s population will grow 421,600 over the next 25 years. That means there will be over 2 million people living in Auckland.
Or, think of it another way, that’s like everyone in Christchurch packing their bags and moving to Auckland.
All these people will need a place to live. That increases the demand for housing and could put pressure on house prices and rents.
Why this couple invested in Auckland
I recently worked with Jenny and Keith. They’re currently living in Auckland, and are renting. They couldn’t afford to buy a property in the school zone they wanted to send their child to, so they decided to rent and had planned to buy their own home a little later on.
But after they came along to one of our webinars, they thought that waiting to buy a house later could cost them more in the long run. They also saw property as a way to provide for their children’s future.
Initially, they were a bit hesitant to invest. They thought property investing was only for rich people.
But then they looked at the stats and realised Auckland was about 9% under where we’d expect it to be (based on long-term averages) so they decided to buy a property as an investment sooner than planned.
Today, they’ve bought their first investment property and are now planning their next move.
