Development update: September 2017
Despite it being winter, and almost an election, and house prices in Auckland having backed off a bit this year, there have still been a number of apartments ‘launched to the market’ in the last couple of months.
Interestingly, the eastern suburbs are finally getting some love.…
22 Comments Development update: August 2017 (the “top 10” for Auckland apartments)
This month, I’ve pulled out some of the data behind the RCG Development Tracker, to give a picture of the people helping to solve Auckland’s housing crisis. I’ve taken a narrow focus here – just looking at apartment developers, builders and architects – but they’re an important part of the solution.…
Should Auckland’s boundaries be redrawn? Part 1: the splitters
We’ve had a unified Auckland Council since 2010 – it replaced seven district/ city councils and one regional council, in the largest local government restructure in New Zealand since 1989. With such a major, complicated process, it’s a given that it won’t have been perfect: things that could have been done better, and things that should be revisited now that we’re seven years on.…
Development update: June 2017
Winter is a quiet time of year for real estate agents. People tend to hunker down and stay where they are. This has always seemed silly to me – if I’m thinking about moving house, I want to see the new place at its worst.…
The Auckland Housing Accord: SHAm or SHAlvation? (part 2)
In the first part of this post, I talked about how the Housing Accord signed by Auckland Council and the government had two clear goals: “increased housing supply and improved housing affordability”. Those two goals are clearly laid out in the first sentence of the Accord.…
Development update: May 2017/ tourism boom part 2
In the mighty spirit of ’80s metal songs, this post features two slightly different parts separated by a slash symbol. It’s partly a monthly “development update” post, and partly a sequel to a post from 18 months ago about the tourism boom.…
The Auckland Housing Accord: SHAm or SHAlvation? (part 1)
Part one of a two-part post. Part two coming soon!
The Auckland Housing Accord was signed between the Auckland Council and government in October 2013, and ran for three years to the end of September 2016. It allowed for “Special Housing Areas” (SHAs) to be created, with new rules from the notified Unitary Plan, and streamlined consenting processes.…
Development Update: April 2017
Industrial is important
In more than two years of Development Update posts, I’ve hardly ever mentioned industrial development. It’s hard to show in a map like the RCG Development Tracker, so I don’t cover it there.
But even in a modern economy like Auckland, with a strong services base, industrial properties are important.…
The death of coal?
At TransportBlog, we focus on transport and urban issues. However, other topics pop up occasionally. Energy and electricity have always had a link to transport – oil, one of the world’s most versatile energy sources, is mainly turned into petrol or diesel, but it can also be used to create electricity (NZ did this in a small way until the late ’70s).…
Development update: March 2017
I wrote in December that “2016 has been a big year for development” – now that we’re a little bit past the end of the year, it’s actually possible to see how big it was. Still, as the cheese ads say, good things take time.…
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