Designed by Fearon Hay, the Parnell building was home to our entire team of salespeople until in 2008 we decided to create two specialist offices and moved half the team to a bespoke space in Freemans Bay.

Now, as our business has grown even more, the opportunity has presented itself to relocate to a magnificent building on Remuera Rd, just on the fringe of Remuera Village. This gives us a more centralised home base, from which to serve our clients in Remuera, Epsom, Parnell and throughout the Eastern suburbs.

The office on Drake Street in Freemans Bay will continue to serve clients in the CBD, Herne Bay and Ponsonby, Western Bays  areas & Waiheke Island.

We are very excited about our new home, with its high-profile position on the corner of Armadale and Remuera Rd, opposite the Remuera Bridge Club. The two-storied early 1900s building has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment that has not only restored it to its former glory but also added some further enhancements that we’re excited to show you.

So, we are very busy not just selling fabulous properties but also planning the move, and having a good clean out of the office after 12 years!

We look forward to welcoming you all to our new space at the beginning of April 2012.

In our opinion, great photography is essential to a successful marketing campaign and ultimately a great selling price.

Beautiful photos are the first things that capture buyers’ interest as they flick through the real estate pages of the various newspapers, websites and real estate magazines.

Photos give a taste of what a property may feel like and entice potential buyers to come and view it. Poor photography can result in few buyers viewing and an unsuccessful marketing campaign. At Kellands, we always use professional photographers who have the knowledge and the techniques to show your home off in the best possible light. Photographing homes for sale is quite different than general amateur photography, as it is vital to have at least one or two “hero” shots that make your home stand out from the competition.

Often our photographers will visit the property at different times of the day to ensure that they have the best photos they can get.

What about floor plans?

Floor plans are becoming more and more common. With real estate now being viewed predominately online and from around the globe, the use of floors plans to explain a home’s layout has become highly desirable for purchasers. Simple clean line drawings with room dimensions on the floor plan without all the added detail that builder’s drawings have are essential for clear viewing and printing.

At Kellands we often use interactive floor plans where potential purchasers viewing online can scroll over a room with their mouse and a photo of that room appears. This provides a great way for purchasers to get a very realistic view of your home.

Packages for photography and floor plans are becoming increasing competitive in price and while a few years ago, photography could set you back around $500 alone, now there are packages for a similar amount, which include floor plans and interactive floor plans. The cost for photography alone is naturally less, but pricing is dependent on the size of your home and how many visits the photographer needs to attend to capture the best shots.

Both are worthwhile investments that will help you attract the maximum number of potential buyers.

We also have some fantastic new listings in Auckland’s central suburbs. We like to get started early in the New Year, so make sure that you get in quickly to view these, as some have already sold this month. There is something for everyone, a great do-up, an immaculately presented home or a fabulous coastal property. But like all real estate agencies, we still need more listings as the demand for property is outstripping the supply. If you are thinking of selling, get going now, as March tends to be the month with the highest number of properties coming to the market, so beat the competition by listing your property today.

It is now a year since we moved our Freemans Bay office from Cascade St to Drake St, behind Victoria Park market. The move has been a very successful one, we love our new office space and the location is fantastic with plenty of vibe from the nearby cafés and restaurants and a fabulous mix of businesses in the local area. The re-opening of Victoria Park Market is going to enhance the area further, so if you are passing or dining locally, please call in for a coffee and a chat, we would love to see you.

By mid January we will be back in full swing. We find this time of the year ideal to start auction and tender campaigns before the rush that usually occurs in mid February. So if you are thinking of selling in the New Year, talk to us now about scheduling a campaign, so you can take the advantage of less competition.

While the residential market has still had its challenges this year, we are certainly seeing renewed growth in volume of sales and the average value. Our statistics for the past three months in comparison with the same period last year, show an average of 83% increase in sale volume, and a 16% increase in sale price. These are very promising results as we move forward to 2012.

Have a happy and safe Christmas, from the Kellands Team.

But we have had some fantastic results over the past year, some of which I would like to share with you. They reflect the care and determination to do the very best for our clients, and what is very noticeable, is the number of sales that have been achieved by our salespeople working together, a testimony to our team culture.

Grey Lynn has certainly been the “darling” of the Auckland property market. Martin Dobson & Charles Collins have been very successful with over 38% of the sales over $1.2 million being either listed and sold, or sold by them. Fiona Mackenzie, Rob Cochrane & Tim Collins Smith have also been very active in this market, and when combined with Martin & Charles’ sales, Kellands have, in total, sold 53% of all sales in Grey Lynn over $1.2 million and 54% of the value. With the large number of salespeople and agencies working the Grey Lynn market, this is an amazing result. Tim & Ross Hawkins have also sold the iconic Screenworks building on the corner of Richmond Rd, at auction, for $1.8 million, 42% above the latest CV.

In Herne Bay, Martin has sold the most expensive house in that market over the past 12 months, in conjunction with Sotheby’s, and 50% of the sales $4 million plus, continuing the strength that Kellands has always had in this market. In the over $2 million price range, Fiona & Martin have sold 30% of the total sales value, again a fantastic result in a highly competitive real estate market.

In Westmere, Kellands has sold the two most expensive properties this year, with the efforts of a strong team of Fiona and Martin for 8 Rawene Ave, & Fiona, Martin, Matt & Blair for 30 Rawene Ave.

The apartment market has seen some great growth in terms of numbers of sales and prices achieved. Matt Baird and Blair Watson have certainly been part of this, and to date, have sold over 50 apartments this year. Whilst we can’t confirm this is a record for a sales agent selling existing apartments, I am sure you would agree, it is an amazing number of sales. As reported in the last Ktalk, many of these sales were well above the current CVs.

In the top end Orakei market, Karen Moore and Ross Hawkins have sold 40% of the properties sold over $2.5 million, and they have both had some very successful sales across their specific markets. They have also worked their purchaser base extremely well, and been involved in a number of sales across the company listings.

Fleur Denning continues to make her mark on the Parnell market. Her dedication and focus in her local area has seen results well above CV, and her local knowledge of the Parnell market is second to none. Fleur is dedicated to Parnell and sits on the committees of both Parnell Heritage and Parnell Community.

Jane Horgan lives and works in the St Johns Park area, and her results in this location are proof of having a strong local knowledge and a belief in the area. Jane has achieved the highest per square metre rate for land and buildings in her area in sales over $1,000,000, achieving over $2,000 per square metre.

Anna Chandler has taken on the hard ones this year, whilst still establishing her positioning in the eastern suburbs market. Many of her listings have been the ones that have been languishing after failed campaigns with other agencies. Anna has taken them on, breathed new life into them, and then sold them, much to their vendors’ delight.

The Coastal market, including Waiheke Island, has continued to be challenging this year, but the very recent sale at Lang’s beach by Ross & Martin in a competitive tender situation, has been a highlight on the coastal market sales results.

Waiheke Island is also getting hotter. Charles Collins and Karen Moore have recently sold a property in a multi offer situation at 12.5 % above the latest Council Valuation. A result which goes against the tide currently, and again, a great team effort.

In summary, we love being a small boutique company, which proves everyday we are big enough to do the business, but small enough to care.

Statistics are obtained from the Real Estate Institute, Kellands data.
Whilst we believe them to be accurate we cannot verify this and take no responsibility for any inaccuracies.

The number of new dwellings approved, excluding apartments, rose a seasonally adjusted 7.1 per cent to 1,123 in October and was up 11 per cent including volatile apartment issuance, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement.

A 46 per cent increase in the number of permits to build in Auckland underpinned the national gain.

That turns around September’s sharp decline in issuance, and is the seventh monthly gain this year.

Total residential building consents have dropped 15 per cent in the year ended October to 4,864, with a 6 per cent decline in the annual value of new building to $3.75 billion.

“The current pace of consent issuance is up slightly from lows recorded over the first half of 2011, but remains at extremely weak levels,” ASB economist Jane Turner said.

“Over the coming year, we expect to see underlying demand for housing construction to increase, supported by tight housing supply, rising house prices (particularly in Auckland) and low interest rates.”

The country’s biggest city is one of the few regions to show a marked improvement in the property market over the past two years, with values just below the late 2007 peak according to the latest Quotable Value report, bumping up the national average.

New Zealand’s nationwide housing market has struggled to recover from last year’s trough amid tepid demand for property as households use record low interest rates to repay debt rather than take on a mortgage.

The value of non-residential building consents issued rose 1.5 per cent to $276 million in October, led by an $18 million increase in the value of office and administration building consents to $43 million.

The annual value fell 1.6 per cent to $3.69 billion.
© NZN 2011

View the full original article here: http://money.msn.co.nz/businessnews/national/8382225/auckland-housing-stokes-consents-rebound

The General Apartment Market

The apartment/townhouse market has been buoyant in 2011 in the city fringe suburbs with all of our auction listings selling prior, under the hammer or within days of the auction.

The demand has been driven by a lack of new developments, low interest rates and steady rise in rents. Interestingly the buyer profile is changing significantly compared to when we started selling apartments over 11 years ago with baby boomers now purchasing up to 80% of our apartments as they look for a low maintenance lock up and leave alternative. Buyers are savvy and are completing extensive due diligence into specifics such as construction, body corporate minutes/budgets and titles. The new units title act came into force in June this year which has made it a legal requirement for owners to provide potential buyers a Pre Contract Disclosure Statement which includes information on the financial status of the body corporate, the sinking fund, whether there have been any weather tightness issues and other important information. This document is signed by you as the owner and can be purchased from your body corporate manager.

The Western Fringe

The western fringe suburbs of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, St Marys Bay, Herne Bay and Freemans Bay have been the darling performers of the Auckland and New Zealand property market over the past 12 months. Houses and apartments alike have been in short supply and often selling within days of being on the market.

In total there have been 100 freehold apartment sales (courtesy of the REINZ statistics) in this area for the 12 months to 31 October 2011. The make-up of these sales is as follows;

1 bedroom – 30 (24%)

2 bedroom – 60 (52%)

3 bedroom – 24 (21%)

Prices have been rising steadily over this period, whilst very much building specific we have seen increases of between 5% and in some case 20% in the last 12 months.

Sale Prices v 2011 CV’s

Overall sale prices were on average 2.44% greater than the new CV’s with a median of 2%. When you further break the sales down into 1, 2 and 3 bedroom properties you find that in general terms the smaller 1 bedroom properties sales prices were on average very comparable to the new 2011 CV’s, with an average difference of -0.48% and a median of 0%. However the larger 3 bedroom properties on average have sold for 6.04% more than the new 2011 CV values.

It is further worth noting that like we eluded to earlier in this letter the statistics are very building specific, with particular buildings dragging the statistical data in one direction or the other.

What’s Ahead?

Right now there are few good apartments for sale in the area therefore new listings attract strong interest and good prices are being achieved. We would expect this to continue as long as there isn’t a double dip recession as Europe struggles with its debt crisis. The flip side of this is interest rates should remain low for the foreseeable future.

Another benefit to owners is the amount of money being invested by others on improving the amenities and infrastructure in the immediate vicinity. Wynyard Quarter is a huge asset and being on the doorstep of these suburbs can only add value. Combine this with the renovation of Victoria Park, the new landscaping over Victoria Park and the general popularity of the inner western suburbs we see real benefit from these projects which should see some capital gain benefits in the future.

You have the opportunity to make an objection to your valuation if you believe one or all of the values are incorrect, or the values are based on incorrect information.

It’s important to note that you can only object to your valuation details. The effect of the valuation on rates is not a relevant reason.

Council valuations are used to assess the rates for each property. A rating valuation is a reflection of a property’s market value as at the date of the valuation, and that day only.

If you want to object to your valuation, you must provide Auckland Council with sufficient information to support your objection.

To make an objection, please be aware that:

• Objections must be received no later than 5pm on 16 December 2011.
• Objections must be entered online or in writing.
• An objection cannot be accepted unless all the information required by the Act and the Regulations, including the values you think should apply to the property, is supplied. It is helpful if you include reasons for the objection.

If you want to object to your valuation, or any valuation on the District Valuation Roll, you can:

• Do it online through our objection portal
• Download an objection form (331kb) and send it to:

Auckland Council 
objection processing centre
 Private Bag 39818

Wellington Mail Centre 
Lower Hutt 5045.

• Pick up an objection form from any Auckland Council library, service centre or local board office
• Phone our revaluation team on 0800 874 060 to request a form.

All objections will be referred to a registered valuer for review. Auckland Council will then decide whether to alter the valuation or not, and will advise its decision. Any affected party who is dissatisfied with the review may then require the objection to be heard by the Land Valuation Tribunal.

Valid objections

For an objection to be valid, it must contain all of the following information, as prescribed by section 7 of the Rating Valuations Regulations 1998:

The relevant reference number.

The capital value, land value, annual value and the value of improvements of the land (whichever one or more is applicable) as stated in the notice of valuation.

The reason for objecting.

The relevant value contended for by the objector.

The name, postal address, and contact telephone numbers of the objector, and the objectors address for service.

The capacity in which the person is objecting (whether as owner, ratepayer, both owner and ratepayer, or neither) if the objection is by an agent, the name of the person who the agent is representing.

1 July 2011 – Effective date of the Auckland Council general revaluation

26 October 2011 – Valuation notices sent to ratepayers and property owners

16 December 2011 – Objection period closes

2. When and how will rates be affected?

Rates won’t be affected until 1 July 2012. The council is currently working through the process of developing the draft Long-term Plan, which will contain policies relating to rates. More information will be available early next year.

3. What is the connection between rates and valuation?

Council rating valuations are one component in determining what portion of the region’s total rates you will pay. The total rates revenue that is required is set each year through council’s annual planning process, which goes through public consultation. This total is then apportioned across ratepayers using a combination of factors, including the value of your property.

4. What valuation basis will be used?


Rates will be levied on capital value from 1 July 2012. This is a statutory requirement contained in section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2010. Capital value rating will be a change for most ratepayers, who have previously been rated on annual value or land value. Previously rates were based on the following:

My house has gone up in value; does this mean my rates are going to go up?
Not necessarily. Change in your capital value does not automatically mean that your rates will increase or decrease because of that change.
The amount of rates that you pay in 2012/13 will depend on a number of factors including the move to capital value and the review of council’s rating policy.

How are the valuations calculated?

Rating valuations are calculated using mass appraisal techniques. They are not individual valuations of every property like those undertaken by private valuers. Mass appraisal valuations are used for all rating valuations in New Zealand and globally. When the value of your property was assessed, the valuer considered a number of factors, including:

• What properties are selling and renting for in your neighbourhood the type of property: house, town house, factory, shop, etc
• Changes to improvements made since the last valuation that required a consent from council e.g. the addition of a room, swimming pool, garage or removal of an improvement
• Information in the District Valuation Roll, which contains the valuation details of all Auckland properties
• Information about industrial and commercial rental trends obtained from market surveys.

Value levels are determined as at 1 July 2011.

What do the terms Land Value, Capital Value and Improvement Value mean?


1. Capital value: The assessment of the most likely selling price had the property (including building/s and all other improvements on the land but excluding chattels) been sold on 1 July 2011.
 2. Land value: The assessment of the probable price that would have been paid for the bare land as at 1 July 2011. It includes development work such as drainage, retaining walls and levelling, but disregards any buildings or other improvements to the property. 
3. Improvement value: Improvements add value to the land i.e. buildings, drives, paths, fencing etc. Improvement value is the difference between capital value and land value.

Do these values reflect market value?

Capital value is an estimate of market value of the property as at 1 July 2011. Council valuations are used for setting rates and as such, they are not intended for other purposes such as for marketing or for mortgages. We strongly recommend that private registered valuations be obtained for these purposes.

What is the difference between capital value and market value?


Capital value is the probable price that would have been paid for the property at the date of the date of the valuation (1 July 2011). Market value is the probable price that would have been paid for the property at any given time, depending on market factors.

What is the Valuer General’s role?

The Valuer General audits Rating Valuations to ensure the values and processes undertaken meet the standards set out in the Rating Valuations Rules. The Valuer General’s office checks the data and undertakes an audit of the council’s revaluation process to ensure its robustness and that it meets all legal requirements. Only when the Valuer General, who may require changes to values, is satisfied is approval to publish the proposed Rating Valuations given.