In the 1960's when I was at school, the concept of people living in apartments was an anathema in New Zealand.
At that time, the word "apartment" and the region of the world known as "Asia" were interlinked.
By the 1990's there were a few medium height residential buildings catering for largely Asian students, and the concept of an 'Apartment in Auckland' had negative connotations for most kiwis.
These apartments were poorly planned small in size and largely a blot on the old cityscape.
As times and economic circumstances changed kiwi students and their parents began to realise that for reasons of security and investment, some of the better constructed and more spacious apartments in Auckland began to appeal, particularly those situated near the university, polytechs and language schools.
The concept of the Auckland apartment hadn't taken hold up until this point and were mainly clustered around the central CBD.
The Harbour, being a natural backdrop to any modern city, was locked out of planners, visionaries and developers hands, largely by the long term leases to shipping and industry.
The America's Cup, expat kiwis returning from Europe and modern thinking and energetic lobbyists changed this towards the beginning of the 21st century.
Then Auckland apartment living became a highly desirable lifestyle when the city took control of waterfront development.
Suddenly, apartments in Auckland went from being the worst Asian development to the best of European and Asian development.
Living in an Auckland apartment amongst the boats, cafes and shipping became a highly desirable, trendy option.
Fuel costs, changed perceptions and modern lifestyles have now made living in an Auckland apartment very attractive.
Given the slump in prices during the world recession and the drying up of any development money to build further apartment buildings has, in my humble view, created a situation of shortages of supply which will last some years.
Those with the vision to purchase well built, well heated apartments now, will again in my view, reap handsome capital gain over the next decade.
The most popular Auckland apartments, even during the heart of the world recession, are quality city fringe warehouse conversions.
These buildings tend to have been constructed in brick or concrete block, have high stud heights and long structural beams providing large open spaces, ideal for development to meet individual needs.
With difficulties faced by small businesses, it will be interesting to see if more of these buildings become available in Auckland for apartment conversion.
The other bright light on the Auckland apartment front is the fact that quality apartments have remained in strong demand and prices have held firm over the past 3 or 4 years, a period when lesser developments plummeted in value.
Let's hope developers have got the message.