Snapshot: Freemans Bay
Jul 18, 2017
SNAPSHOT - Freemans Bay
Freemans Bay was once a poor and disreputable area of Auckland. Now this suburb on the edge of Auckland Central is an affluent and desirable neighbourhood known for its mix of character homes, apartments and various pockets of commercial property.
This location is highly sought after, which is significantly due to it’s convenient location and access to a wide array of amenity and entertainment options, including Victoria Quarter, Victoria Park, Ponsonby, Jervois Road, and the Wynyard and Viaduct precincts. In addition, the CBD and motorway systems are easily accessible.
Various apartment projects have been undertaken recently within Freemans Bay, including Urba, Hopetoun and Hereford Residences, all with elevated positions and harbour views from the Northern side of the K Road ridge and well located on the edge of Ponsonby. These three projects offered approximately 350 freehold apartments, with only a few remaining in the recently completed Hereford Residences. Momentum Apartments at 36 College Hill was also completed in mid 2015.
A number of strong sales have recently been achieved in Freemans Bay, both on a land value and yield basis, which illustrates the very strong demand in this precinct.
A notable sale within this precinct was 25 Hargreaves Street (sold by Scott Kirk & Alan Haydock), which attracted strong interest, selling for $5,400,000 + GST (if any) representing a yield of 4.3%. Other sales included two villas on College Hill (sold by James Were & Scott Kirk), selling for $1,500,000 + GST (if any) and $1,700,000 + GST (if any) at yields of 2.61% and 2.93% respectively. Scott Kirk notes; ‘Despite some changes in the property market in the last six months, demand for commercial property in Freemans Bay continues to be very strong. This demand has been further intensified by the lack of supply in this location and other strong City Fringe locations.’
Bayleys have concluded over $25,000,000 of sales in this location since late 2016. We have provided a selection of sales in Freemans Bay below (Bayleys have been involved in 9 of the 12 transactions);
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