Almost 20% of townhouses selling for a loss

Two townhouses in upmarket St Andrews Road, Epsom in Auckland, have resold for losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars - and data shows they are not unusual.

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

Almost 20% of townhouses are being sold for a lower price than their owners paid for them.

Last week, Cotality reported 11% of houses sold in the first quarter of this year changed hands for less than their owners paid for them, and 41% of apartments. Townhouses were sold at a loss rate of 18%.

That does not include the costs of sale, such as real estate commissions and marketing fees.

The St Andrews Road townhouses were bought for $2.15 million and $1.99m, respectively in 2022, and resold in March for $1.55m and February for $1.65m, respectively.

Across the market, median loss for townhouses was $49,500, similar to the figure for standalone houses.

Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the market for townhouses was weaker than houses, which was expected given the supply that had gone into the market and the slightly softer value performance. "But they're not totally collapsing."

He said there were now 242,000 townhouses across the country, 48,000 more than eight years ago.

Another townhouse that sold in the first quarter, on East Coast Road, changed hands for $1.739 million in February after having been bought for $2.35m in November 2023.

Townhouses are 13% of all stock and 12% of all listings. Houses are 74% of all stock and 75%of all listings and lifestyle properties are 9% of stock and 11% of listings.

Auckland real estate salesperson Diego Traglia said the townhouse market had been one of the softer parts of the Auckland real estate sector in the past couple of years.

"Performing only slightly better than the apartment sector in many areas. A large portion of townhouses purchased around the 2021 to early 2022 peak are now reselling below their original purchase price, particularly where buyers paid premium prices off plans or during the height of the market.

"From our experience, many of those resales are competing against brand new developments still offering incentives such as cashback, low deposit structures, upgraded appliance packages, or more flexible settlement terms. That creates additional pressure on second hand townhouse owners trying to achieve their original purchase price."

He said the better performing townhouses were those with larger floorplans and good functionality, houses that were on the end of a block or with more natural light, those that had parking, storage or outdoor space, places with strong schooling and transport links and well positioned homes with a clear market strategy.

"There are still buyers active in the segment, but they are far more price conscious and have a lot of choice, so presentation, positioning, and negotiation matter more than ever in this market."

Realestate.co.nz said townhouses were staying on the site for an average of 120 days compared to 96 for standalone houses.

Ventnor Road Remuera, lost $890,000 after 4.2 years

Sandringham Road, lost $820,000 after 5.1 years

Brilliant St, lost $725,000 after 4.3 years

Agathis Ave, lost $655,000 after 4.5 years

East Coast Road, lost $610,100 after 2.2 years