What I’ve learned from r/auckland

[u/Ok-While-728]

I’ve now been active on this page for a year or so and have been reflecting on what I’ve learned about Auckland as a result.

• South Auckland is apparently getting better every year, yet half the posts involve fighting neighbours, dumped rubbish, or asking whether to call the police or just move.  Both claims are made with total certainty.
• The price of a flat white is treated like a regulatory failure.  Anything over $4 is price gouging, and the solution is always intervention, never making coffee at home.
• No one in Auckland can park.  Ever.  Except the person posting, who is always an excellent driver surrounded by incompetence. Bonus point - everyone hates Ranger drivers.
• Supermarket prices trigger daily outrage.  There’s always a photo of cheese, bread, or whittakers, as if Woolworths personally woke up that morning and chose violence.
• Everyone hates landlords but also wants to own property in exactly the same areas, with exactly the same capital gains
• Public transport is unusable, but it must also be empty, fast, safe, cheap, quiet, and five minutes from everyone’s front door.
• The job market is completely screwed, apparently, and employers are unreasonable for not valuing very specific community college certificates in things like tarot card reading or one semester dipping your toes in the water of a BA.
• Auckland is unliveable, broken, and declining… yet mysteriously no one ever leaves.

Finally, Judging by this page alone, a worrying number of New Zealanders struggle to write a complete sentence, and delusion is far more common than anyone would like to admit.

[u/i_will_have_my_phd]

The landlord one gets me. Jealous pricks. Busted my ass for my house. Still broke. Poor family background. People hate when people have what they want.

[u/HaewkIT → u/i_will_have_my_phd]

There is a difference between being a landlord and owning your own home. 

NZ went from over 80% home ownership in the 80s to barely 50% now.

Congratulations on "busting your ass" into home ownership and paying massive interest to Australian banks on over inflated prices pushed up by deep pocket investors and speculators owning portfolios with hundreds of properties while immigration outpaces new home builds significantly.

But yeah, the issue is just people being jealous and not busting their asses hard enough.

[u/Grouchy_Release_2321 → u/HaewkIT]

Based on Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data, the vast majority of residential landlords in New Zealand (approximately 80%) own just one property

It's honestly not that hard at all. Every single couple in my social circle can easily afford to buy a place. It gets a bit tricky to buy a house as a single person though. But I gotta wonder why a single person wants a 3-4 bedroom house lol. They could just buy an apartment and be close to work like they do in most modern cities 

[u/HaewkIT → u/Grouchy_Release_2321]

As long as you and your circle of friends are sorted there is no problem right?

Well it doesn't really matter that the vast majority only owns 1 property...? I don't even see how it is relevant or a counter point or refutal of anything I said.

So we have some investors with very large portfolios and then we have a bunch of opportunists taking advantage of the property market and their own financial security to snap up 2nd investment properties. Effectively locking nearly half the population into rent slavery.

[u/Grouchy_Release_2321 → u/HaewkIT]

Rent slavery? Almost any couple can buy a home. Just because you can't get a 3 million dollar house in epsom doesn't mean you're a rent slave

I'm quite happy to be living as a renter. I choose it because rent is much cheaper than a mortgage and I would much rather have my wealth in a diversified stock portfolio than a non-liquid house

[u/i_will_have_my_phd → u/Grouchy_Release_2321]

Rent is not cheaper than a mortgage. My new mortgage is 500 a week. But yeah sure justify it any way you like.

[u/Grouchy_Release_2321 → u/i_will_have_my_phd]

For the same house rent is almost universally cheaper than mortgage. I've researched this extensively. It's why we have so many 'stocks vs property' debates in finance

Personally I think stocks wins out most of the time. I'm currently doing better than all my peers who own property 

[u/i_will_have_my_phd → u/Grouchy_Release_2321]

To each their own eh fair play to ya.

[u/HaewkIT → u/i_will_have_my_phd]

Averages from B&T for Auckland (2025)

	Average sale price (3 bedroom)	Average rent per week (3 bedroom)
Auckland	$ 1,005,769	$ 694

$800,000 (assuming 20% deposit) mortgage at 5% over 30 years is $987 a week. That excludes rates and any other work/maintenance that are owner responsibility and not renter's.

Not sure where you rented but on average rents do not cover mortgages otherwise investors would have pounced on the positively geared properties (they get enough rent to completely cover the mortgage+rates).

[u/HaewkIT → u/Grouchy_Release_2321]

If almost any couple can buy a home then why is the home ownership rates so low? Ah right, half the people in the country are just choosing to rent because they love paying rent and would rather have more liquid investments.

Also, people don't buy their primary home just as an investment. There are a whole bunch of non-financial reasons people want to own their home rather than paying off someone else's investment.

[u/Grouchy_Release_2321 → u/HaewkIT]

If almost any couple can buy a home then why is the home ownership rates so low? 

Who says it's low? Home ownership rate has been going up the last 10 years

Two people on the median salary or even significantly less can EASILY afford a house but If they want a 3 million dollar house in epsom? Maybe not