House price boom: Homes owned by Auckland politicians

PHOTO: Jacinda Ardern. GETTY

According to NZ HERALD homes owned by Auckland’s politicians have leapt more than $14 million in value in just a few years, highlighting how the city’s 23 MPs have benefited from the housing market boom.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Sandringham home in inner Auckland jumped $1.08m in three years.

Opposition leader Christopher Luxon’s portfolio of properties rose at least $3.1m.

Former National leader Judith Collins holds the second best-performing portfolio – after Luxon – the three homes she holds an ownership share in collectively jumped $2.2m.

National MP Andrew Bayly recently sold this Karaka home, described as a "colonial masterpiece". Photo / Supplied — **National MP Andrew Bayly recently sold this Karaka home, described as a “colonial masterpiece”. Photo / Supplied**

Deborah Russell, the Labour MP for New Lynn, enjoyed the second biggest equity gain among Labour MPs as her Titirangi home in Auckland and her Karori property in Wellington rose a combined $865,000 in three years.

Chloe Swarbrick – the only Green Party MP in Auckland – is yet to make an equity gain on her property, according to Auckland Council’s CV data.

That’s partly because her Auckland Central apartment is a new-build and therefore wasn’t valued in 2017.

It’s also because Swarbrick paid $1.42m for the apartment in 2020 but Auckland Council valued it at $1.36m last year – less than what the Auckland Central MP bought it for.

Overall, the 35 properties the Herald could trace as being owned by the 23 Auckland politicians sitting in Parliament jumped a collective $14m in total.

The figure is an underestimate because the Herald has not been able to track every property the politicians own.

National leader Luxon declared an interest in three residential homes and four investment properties in his official statement to Parliament’s Pecuniary Interest register.

However, the Herald has only listed six of his properties here.

***Leader of the National Party Christopher Luxon with his wife Amanda at home in Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs***

Similarly, National’s Mark Mitchell – the MP for Whangaparāoa – declared an interest in six properties, but only three are listed here.

Labour MPs Aupito Sio, Jenny Salesa and Neru Leavasa also declared ownership of properties not listed here.

Act MP David Seymour is the only Auckland MP who doesn’t have an ownership share in any homes.

However, Seymour has previously admitted he could inherit properties or parts of properties from his grandparents and father.

The Herald research is based on Auckland Council’s recent release of new valuations for every property in the city.

The Herald calculated how much the MP’s properties have increased in value by comparing their most recent Auckland Council CV against the previous CV released in 2017.

For properties the politicians own outside Auckland, the Herald used CV data released by the council in that district.

It should be noted that although the $14m rise in value sounds like a windfall, it hasn’t all gone straight into the politicians’ pockets.

In many cases, the MPs do not own the homes outright and instead share ownership with family or business partners.

And while the Herald has in most cases calculated the rise in value of the homes since 2017, the politicians may not have owned the properties for this entire period, as some only bought their properties recently.

Nevertheless, the MPs have still enjoyed impressive gains.

Luxon enjoyed the biggest rise in value for a single property: his $6.8m luxury Remuera home has jumped $1.5m in value since 2017.

The 1930s-built bungalow features six bedrooms and an 1100sq m block.

Overall, Luxon’s six properties are worth a combined $12.6m.

Former National leader Collins had the next biggest jump: her $4.8m St Heliers home rose $1.45m in value.

Ardern’s $1.1m gain on her Sandringham home was the third biggest jump in value.

Her house is now worth $2.9m.

National’s Andrew Bayly – the MP for Port Waikato – recently cashed in on the rise in value of his six-bedroom Karaka home by selling the luxury “colonial masterpiece” home last month for an undisclosed price.