The 20 Most & Least Popular NZ Suburbs
Biggest real estate website property buyers 'search' preferences turn up unexpected 'most & least popular' results
www.realestate.co.nz has drawn down data detailing the most popular and least popular areas that buyers have been
looking at property in across the country for the last 3 months.
"It is important to note that we are very suburb sensitive when it comes to real estate (as most people are when it
comes to their suburb) so I must reassure you that I haven't randomly designated the boundaries. The website uses the
official names and boundaries for all of mapping including provinces, regions, local authorities, cities, towns, areas
and suburbs", says realestate.co.nz Chief Executive, Alistair Helm.
The boundary data and timely updates are sourced from Terralink - the same data that's supplied to emergency services.
There are in total of over 1,600 areas in the 'suburb' category on the website including actual suburbs as well as
townships and rural areas.
"To be clear, the 'popular' ranking = number of total viewings of listings in a suburb during a 3 month period (ending
30 September) divided by the average number of listings in that suburb (suburbs with 30 or less listings have been
excluded to avoid skewed results).
TOP 20
District Suburb
1 Christchurch Dallington
2 Dunedin St Clair
3 Christchurch Cashmere Hills
4 Dunedin Maori Hill
5 Auckland Westmere
6 Waitakere Titirangi
7 Auckland Ellerslie
8 Dunedin Roslyn
9 Auckland One Tree Hill
10 Auckland Grey Lynn
11 Auckland Mt Eden
12 Christchurch Sumner
13 Waitakere Oratia
14 Christchurch Merivale
15 Dunedin Andersons Bay
16 Waitakere Laingholm
17 Auckland Onehunga
18 Auckland Ponsonby
19 Auckland Glen Innes
20 Dunedin Port Chalmers
I think many people may be surprised by this data, it's probably quite different than what people would say if they
were asked to guess. My analysis and that of other that I have shared this with is that the Top 20 is a collection of
affordable suburbs that have a good selection of family homes with a high standard of service infrastructure and
established mid+ decile schooling.
It's interesting to note the suburbs fall into two distinct categories - they surround the CBD or are quite a
significant distance away. Obviously the satellite suburbs offer larger properties and homes, semi-rural views and
lifestyles in the same price range.
Dunedin has tossed up two interesting suburbs that wouldn't fall into the affordable family home category - the affluent
suburb of Maori Hill and its neighbour Roslyn feature some of Dunedin's largest, most established homes with some of the
city's most breathtaking views - the Remuera of Dunedin. However Port Chalmers, Anderson's Bay and parts of St Clair
fall into the 'travel for lifestyle' category.
These results have reinforced our research and feedback that indicates people are definitively using the website as a
comprehensive resource and research tool for property investment rather than entertainment or tyre-kicking. It's very
pleasing that people serious about the property market see the website as a valuable place to look for property rather
than a place for looking at property.
The bottom 20 suburbs are shown in ascending order from the suburb of least demand of consumer visits to the website
listings upwards (so for clarification Manakau* has slightly more demand per listing than Aotea)
BOTTOM 20
District Suburb
1 South Waikato Aotea
2 Horowhenua* Manakau*
3 Far North Kaeo
4 Kaipara Kaiwaka
5 Western BoP Athenree
6 Hurunui Waipara
7 Hauraki Waihi
8 Kaipara Mangawhai
9 Kaipara Otamatea Surrounds
10 Hurunui Hurunui Surrounds**
11 Taupo Mangakino
12 Manukau Otara
13 Far North Whangaroa/Kaeo Surrounds
14 Manukau Clover Park
15 Manukau Manurewa
16 Western Bay Of Plenty Te Puke
17 Manukau Clendon Park
18 Waitakere Westgate
19 Waikato Te Kauwhata
20 Otorohanga Otorohanga
NOTE: * This is the tiny settlement just north of Otaki (Spelt Mana rather than Manu - as per Manukau City) ** Hurunui
Surrounds does not include the resort town of Hanmer Springs
This list of 20 suburbs has equally thrown up some interesting names and lots of questions. On initial examination the
'least popular list' may seem somewhat perplexing but it is again broken into two types and I think there is quite a
logical explanation to it all. The 'least list' is dominated by rural areas that are too small to offer a lot of
employment options and too remote to make daily commuting to the nearest town or city for work feasible.
The other suburbs are most likely suffering from damaged reputations. Manurewa in particular has sustained a series of
negative and high profile incidents this year that may make people wary of moving in. However, Manurewa is a very well
established family suburb featuring many well built homes from the 1950s & 1960s. There are some quite exceptional properties and gardens that will never make the front page but are worth
searching for. Serious property buyers looking to bag a bargain will undoubtedly see the positive side of identifying
the 20 least popular areas. There is not only value here but rare and special homes. They may be 'least actively viewed'
in terms of website visitor numbers but how bad can a property be that's large, rural, peaceful and private?
ENDS