Living in Castor Bay, Auckland: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 1,760 live property titles in Castor Bay, Auckland are mostly freehold (60%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 591 (33.6%), well above the national share of 8.7%.
Castor Bay, Auckland cross-lease titles
- Cross-lease titles
- 591
- Share of live titles
- 33.6%
- Live titles in total
- 1,760
- Auckland share
- 14.4%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Auckland
- joint 18 of 160
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 20 of 644
Castor Bay at a glance
Where Castor Bay differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: median weekly rent, new tenancies (higher than 98% of NZ suburbs); cross-lease share of titles (higher than 96% of NZ suburbs); median slope under buildings (higher than 92% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Castor Bay is listed under Auckland.
- 1,760 live titles are recorded here, including 591 cross-lease titles (33.6%).
- The page includes 2023 Census context for the statistical area that represents this suburb.
- The page includes MBIE new-tenancy rent figures for April–June 2026.
Contextual observations
- Cross-lease titles make up 33.6% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 4.9% of recorded titles, so title structure can vary within the suburb.
- Public-transport figures describe how recorded titles sit near mapped stops. They do not describe a service from a particular property.
- Coast distance is a suburb-level map measure, not a flood or hazard assessment.
Questions worth investigating
- For any cross-lease property you consider, do the current title, flats plan and lease match what is built today?
- What do the LIM, council property file and a suitable inspection add for the specific address?
No data held for this suburb
- The core title, Census, rent, transport and coast measures used by this page are available.
Title mix in Castor Bay
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,049 | 59.6% |
| Cross lease | 591 | 33.6% |
| Unit title | 86 | 4.9% |
| Leasehold | 1 | 0.1% |
| Other record types | 33 | 1.9% |
| Total | 1,760 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Castor Bay compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Castor Bay is about 3.9 times the national share (8.7%).
Across Auckland as a whole, the share is 14.4%; Castor Bay is about 2.3 times the overall Auckland share (14.4%).
Its cross-lease share is in the highest quarter of 160 in Auckland (among suburbs with an indexed page on this site).
How cross-leases in Castor Bay are set up
Fewer leases include a garage (11% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
Carports appear in fewer leases (8% of schemes, against 13% nationally).
Separate exclusive-use areas are more common (8% of schemes, against 5% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Castor Bay | Auckland | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 255 | 39,589 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 76.5% | 73.7% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 16.1% | 14.0% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 7.5% | 12.0% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 1,012 m² | 961 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 457 m² | 418 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 11.4% | 23.0% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 8.2% | 19.2% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 8.2% | 5.5% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 48.2% | 42.1% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1990 | 1989 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 176 | 26,275 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Castor Bay
Unit titles are 5% of Castor Bay's titles, well below Auckland (15%) and well below New Zealand (8%). They belong to 33 developments, each run by a body corporate; half have 2 units or fewer.
New titles in Castor Bay since 2020
135 of Castor Bay's current titles (8%) were first issued since 2020, well below Auckland's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (16%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
14 are cross-lease titles, often re-issued when a flats plan is updated.
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 120 | 45 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 14 | 8 |
| Leasehold | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
New titles include cross-leases converted to freehold and titles re-issued; they are not a count of new homes. Sources and limits
The lie of the land in Castor Bay
The typical building in Castor Bay stands on ground sloping 8.1° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated), in the steepest quarter of 160 in Auckland.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Castor Bay
18% of Castor Bay's titles are within 200 m of the sea or harbour edge, 51% within 500 m and 100% within 1 km. The typical title is 490 m away.
Measured in a straight line from the centre of each title's land to the coastline on LINZ's 1:50k topographic map, which follows harbours and estuaries as well as the open coast; lakes and rivers are not included. Distance says nothing about beach access, views or exposure to coastal hazards; council hazard maps and the LIM describe those.
Who lives around Castor Bay: 2023 Census
Castor Bay's titles fall in 2 census areas (Stats NZ statistical areas). The 2 shown below hold 100% of its titles; their figures are shown side by side and are not added together.
Fewer households have no car in Castor Bay North than across Auckland: 2.2% against 6.8%.
Fewer workers walk or cycle to work in Castor Bay North than across Auckland: 2.0% against 4.2%.
More residents are 65 or over in Castor Bay North than across Auckland: 18.2% against 13.3%.
| Measure | Castor Bay North 54% of titles | Castor Bay South 46% of titles | Auckland whole council |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 2,457 | 2,094 | 1,656,486 |
| Change since 2018 | −0.7% | +3.1% | +5.4% |
| Change since 2013 | +6.5% | +5.0% | +17.0% |
| Median age | 43.9 | 41.8 | 35.9 |
| Households | 873 | 744 | 539,490 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 75.6% | 71.0% | 59.5% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 24.1% | 28.6% | 40.5% |
| Median household income | $157,100 | $159,300 | $116,800 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $765 | $750 | $540 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 7.6% | 8.1% | 8.8% |
| Ages | |||
| Under 15 | 17.0% | 17.8% | 19.2% |
| 15 to 29 | 17.0% | 18.2% | 20.9% |
| 30 to 64 | 47.9% | 47.7% | 46.5% |
| 65 and over | 18.2% | 16.2% | 13.3% |
| Where people came from | |||
| Born overseas | 42.0% | 42.9% | 42.9% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 19.6% | 22.6% | 19.6% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 35.9% | 38.3% | 45.0% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 6.1% | 7.9% | 5.6% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 17.9% | 18.7% | 21.1% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | |||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 43.5% | 46.2% | 32.9% |
| Employed full-time | 51.2% | 53.5% | 53.2% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 1.9% | 1.9% | 3.3% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 60.6% | 62.1% | 47.5% |
| Median personal income | $55,300 | $55,900 | $44,700 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | |||
| Work from home | 24.6% | 24.1% | 18.2% |
| Car, truck or van | 65.3% | 61.0% | 68.6% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 7.4% | 11.0% | 7.8% |
| Walk or cycle | 2.0% | 2.8% | 4.2% |
| Households and families | |||
| One-person households | 13.9% | 16.9% | 18.5% |
| Average people per household | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 2.2% | 3.0% | 6.8% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 2.1% | 3.8% | 8.8% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 46.3% | 53.1% | 47.2% |
| Couples without children | 41.0% | 37.6% | 35.5% |
| One-parent families | 12.3% | 9.8% | 17.3% |
| Homes | |||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 81.6% | 77.9% | 71.5% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 65.9% | 70.4% | 66.3% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 21.8% | 21.7% | 20.1% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 16.4% | 17.3% | 17.4% |
Rents around Castor Bay
New tenancies in Castor Bay in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $935 a week (down 0.5% on a year earlier). That is above the typical suburb in Auckland ($675), and well above the national median ($600); in the highest quarter of 129 in Auckland.
| April–June 2026 | Castor Bay 100% of titles | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $935 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $635–$1,200 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | −0.5% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 24 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Castor Bay
One school site lies inside Castor Bay: Campbells Bay School (Contributing).
- Campbells Bay School (Contributing)
- Nearest school: Campbells Bay School (0.7 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Carmel College (2.1 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: North Shore Hospital (2.4 km)
School enrolment zones in Castor Bay: a guide
Two secondary schools have a home zone covering most of Castor Bay's titles: Westlake Boys' High School and Westlake Girls' High School.
- Campbells Bay School (primary, Years 1–6): all or nearly all titles
- Wairau Intermediate School (intermediate, Years 7–8): all or nearly all titles
- Murrays Bay Intermediate (intermediate, Years 7–8): all or nearly all titles
- Takapuna Normal Intermediate (intermediate, Years 7–8): about 20% of titles
- Westlake Boys' High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Westlake Girls' High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
A guide only: check the school's own zone map for any address. Zones as at 14 July 2026. Sources and limits
Public transport in Castor Bay
97% of Castor Bay's titles are within 400 m of a stop with a scheduled weekday service, slightly above Auckland as a whole (82%).
11% are that close to a frequent stop (60 or more departures that day), well below the council (54%); in the lowest quarter of 160 in Auckland.
The typical title is 171 m in a straight line from its nearest stop.
Timetable of Wednesday 30 September 2026, Auckland Transport. Sources and limits
Places of worship near Castor Bay
OpenStreetMap maps 1 place of worship inside Castor Bay (1 Buddhist).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: Saint Vincent de Paul Church, 1.4 km away
- Hindu: Shree Sanatan Dharam Hanuman Mandir, 6.5 km away
- Buddhist: Wat Phra Dhammakaya Auckland, under 1 km away
- Muslim: North Shore Islamic Centre, 2.4 km away
- Sikh: Gurdwara Sahib North Shore, 3.4 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in Auckland with many cross-leases
- Papatoetoe: 3,998 cross-lease titles (25.8%)
- Remuera: 3,046 cross-lease titles (26.7%)
- Mount Roskill: 2,891 cross-lease titles (28.3%)
- Mount Wellington: 2,700 cross-lease titles (24.1%)
- Glenfield: 2,347 cross-lease titles (36.6%)
- Epsom: 2,335 cross-lease titles (29.8%)
- New Lynn: 2,016 cross-lease titles (24.4%)
- Mount Eden: 2,005 cross-lease titles (20.7%)
Suburbs like Castor Bay
The closest match on the measures on this site is Murrays Bay, Auckland in Auckland, nearest on older residents, slope, elevation. Closeness is arithmetic, not a rating. Sources and limits
| Suburb | Council | Cross-lease share of titles | Median weekly rent, new tenancies | Median age | Closest on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murrays Bay, Auckland | Auckland | 28.3% | $950 | 42.6 | older residents, slope, elevation |
| Northcote Point | Auckland | 34.9% | $850 | 39.9 | older residents, distance to the coast, commuting on foot or by bike |
| Hillsborough, Auckland | Auckland | 26.2% | $795 | 37.9 | distance to the coast, population change, born overseas |
| Campbells Bay | Auckland | 26.4% | $928 | 42.1 | heat pumps, distance to the coast, commuting on foot or by bike |
| Waiake | Auckland | 38.9% | $750 | 40.1 | distance to the coast, unit-title share, near a stop |
Questions
What is the rent in Castor Bay, Auckland?
New tenancies in the Castor Bay rent area had a median rent of $935 a week in the April–June 2026 quarter (MBIE bond data, all dwelling types). These are rents agreed for new tenancies, not asking rents. The middle half of those rents ran from $635 to $1,200.
What schools are in Castor Bay, Auckland?
LINZ maps 1 school site inside Castor Bay: Campbells Bay School. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Carmel College (2.1 km in a straight line). Secondary-school home zones covering most of its titles are Westlake Boys' High School and Westlake Girls' High School; check the school's own zone map for any address.