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Story: City history and people

Auckland land sale

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Auckland land sale

New Zealand’s first towns were commercial ventures designed to profit their founders. The sale of urban land was pivotal to this objective. As towns became cities, demand for land increased, as did its price. Early buyers therefore had the chance to make windfall gains. This notice advertises the first sale of town land in Auckland – which reaped very high prices.

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 26 December 1840, p. 2

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

David Thorns and Ben Schrader, City history and people – The first towns, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/23491/auckland-land-sale (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by David Thorns and Ben Schrader, published 15 April 2010.