Townhouse Losses in 2026 Come Down to When People Bought

Townhouses have had a rough run in the news this year, with a steady stream of stories about owners selling for less than they paid. We design and build townhouses in Auckland, so we read these reports closely, and buyers and investors ask us about them a lot. This is what the data actually says, and how it looks from where we sit.

What the resale data shows

Cotality tracks resales every quarter by comparing what each home sold for with what the owner originally paid. RNZ reported in May, using Cotality's figures, that 18% of townhouse resales in the first three months of 2026 sold for less than the purchase price, compared with about 11% of standalone houses and 41% of apartments. The median loss on those townhouse sales was $49,500, about the same as for standalone houses.

Cotality's latest report covers sales from April to June 2026. Across all Auckland property, 20.9% of resales in that period were at a loss, up from 19.9% in the previous quarter. The median loss was $85,000. Owners who had held for many years did much better, with a median profit of $368,000 in Auckland. These figures are gross, so they don't take agent's commission or other selling costs into account.

On values, Cotality says apartments have fallen about 6% over the past year, while standalone house values have barely moved.

Who is losing money, and why

The most useful part of Cotality's report is how long people had owned their homes before selling. The typical home that sold at a loss between April and June this year had been owned for 4.3 years, so it was bought around the end of 2021 or the start of 2022. That was just as values were peaking, with prices very high and mortgage rates already rising. Many of these owners probably didn't plan to sell so soon, and a job change, a family change or higher mortgage repayments may have forced the sale.

The homes that sold for a gain over the same period had been owned for a median of 10.4 years, the longest since Cotality's records began in the mid-1990s.

So the losses are mostly about when people bought and how soon they had to sell, and Cotality says this is affecting every property type. Townhouses show up in the numbers so much partly because so many were built and bought during those boom years. RNZ reported there are now about 242,000 townhouses in New Zealand, 48,000 more than eight years ago.

What's different if you buy now

If you buy today, you aren't paying 2021 prices. Cotality puts national values at around 18% below the peak, and its chief economist describes it as a buyer's market. Bayleys' new-build townhouse report for early 2026 describes Auckland as having a lot of stock for sale, with sellers often expecting more than buyers are willing to pay.

That doesn't mean prices are about to jump. Cotality says it's hard to see resale results improving much for a while yet, and we'd agree it's not a market to buy in expecting a quick gain. But the conditions behind most of this year's losses, buying at the top and selling a few years later, are different from the ones a buyer faces now. If you can hold for the longer term, today's prices are a much better starting point than 2021's were.

Who we're seeing buy

We're seeing a lot of investors coming from Australia. We don't have figures for the wider market, so this is only what we see on our own projects, but it's been noticeable over the past year.

What buyers notice in a new townhouse

Bayleys found that affordability and low maintenance are what draw buyers to townhouses, and that new homes designed with a particular buyer in mind are selling better off the plan than generic ones.

That matches how we work. We design each project around the people most likely to buy it, and we keep a close eye on the overall price so it stays within their reach. Where we put the extra effort is into how the home feels once you're inside. The kitchen usually gets the most design attention, since it's the room people spend the most time in and the one they tend to remember after a viewing.

We also usually finish our homes to a higher standard than the price point strictly calls for. That means things like better carpets and fully tiled showers, rather than the cheapest option that would still meet the spec. You won't always see those choices on a floor plan, but buyers tend to pick up on them when they walk through, and they're a big part of why one townhouse sells easily while a similar one down the road sits on the market.

Does a townhouse need a car park?

Parking comes up a lot, and for some buyers it matters. A family with two cars in an outer suburb is going to want somewhere to put them.

Plenty of people don't need one, though. Close to train stations, frequent bus routes and town centres, many buyers and tenants either don't own a car or don't use one every day, and they'd rather not pay for a space they won't use. A home without a car park doesn't carry that cost. Whether a townhouse should have parking depends on where it is and who it's likely to suit, and we decide that site by site.

Buying off the plan

Some new townhouses are sold off the plan, before they're built or finished. In our experience that depends a lot on the area, and most townhouses still sell once they're complete or close to it, when buyers can walk through them. If you do buy off the plan, you agree the price at the start and settle when the home is finished, so you're relying on the developer to deliver what was promised. Before signing, it's worth looking at the developer's completed projects, checking exactly what's included in the price, and asking your lawyer to go through the agreement, including what happens if the build runs late.

Where we stand

We design and build townhouses across Auckland, and a lot of our time on each project goes into the early decisions about which sites suit townhouses, who they'll suit, and how they're laid out. If you're wondering whether townhouses would work on land you own, we're happy to talk it through. If you're interested in buying one of our homes, the selling agent for each project can take you through what's available.