With a Block-free life lying ahead for a while - following Sunday night’s dramatic finale, we’ve looked around the country for homes with a list price that’s similar to the sum of $1,009,500 which was paid out by the lucky bidder who bought 2018 winners, Team Yellow, Stu and Amy’s Hobsonville Point corner house. It’s been an interesting exercise, yielding a wide variety of unique properties – few of which quite crack the magical million.
In Whangarei there’s practically nothing available in the just-on, or just-over $1 million bracket right now, so you might have to settle for keeping the change and buying 79 Ross Road, a fantastic north-facing hobby-block in picturesque Parua Bay, about 25 minutes from Whangarei city centre, for $895,000. Set on approximately 29070sqm, this 270 sqm four-bedroom beauty has loads of character and offers warm, bright living spaces plus an orchard, pond, covenanted bush and a heated pool - as well as the added bonus of 200 olive trees and a processing room. It borders on the Tauranui River with a boat ramp, walking tracks and golf course right nearby.
Just over an hour-and-a-half down the road from Auckland, Hamilton, the River City, is also pretty low on circa-$1 million properties at the moment, but 7 Batten Drive in popular Flagstaff almost hits the jackpot at $979,000. It’s an attractive executive residence with 249sqm of living space, set on a generous 693sqm section.
Start your property search
With five bedrooms, two bathrooms and an expansive deck it will soon be flooded with summer sun. The entertainer’s kitchen is equipped with quality Bosch appliances and granite benchtops - with the added advantage of a scullery to help keep food preparation related mess to a minimum. Batten Drive is close to popular schools, shopping centres and public transport routes.
Tauranga’s property market has been basking in the Auckland halo effect, and coming in almost right on the magic million – at $990,000 - is 15 Mersea Place, in a perennially desirable spot in Maungatapu. Our best-find here is an interesting one. Built in the 1970s and never updated since, it’s a classic 250sqm retro do-up, with two huge bedrooms, two bathrooms complete with amazing coloured fittings, and it’s situated on a fabulous 2656sqm section, overlooking the city’s sparkling harbour.
If you can’t face the thought of renovating the existing house, there are other options in terms of building a new dwelling – or possibly even two, once you’ve dealt with some planning and consent restrictions. Close to the fabulous beaches of Mount Maunganui and an easy drive to Tauranga city, the possibilities here are significant.
Meanwhile in booming Rotorua, $969,000 could net you the sensational property at 2A Okawa Place at Lake Rotoiti. Its 380sqm layout is set over three levels, with loads of different prospects when it comes to shaping the house to fit your own family’s particular needs.
It’s currently four bedrooms, with two smart, modern bathrooms, a large, contemporary, entertainer’s kitchen and garaging for four cars. The exterior walls are roughcast and the roof is steel. The house enjoys virtually uninterrupted views of beautiful Lake Rotoiti and there’s a boat ramp right nearby allowing you to live the ultimate lakeside lifestyle with an easy commute to Papamoa or to Rotorua city - and to the local airport.
In Hawke's Bay where Napier, Hastings and all the little towns in-between, we’ve discovered a superior and super-stylish 215sqm home at 30 Whakatomo Place in heavenly Havelock North. Just two years old it’s on a peaceful, private 1060sqm rear section and offers a huge number of attributes for the very respectable price of $889,000.
With four large bedrooms, each with its own access to the landscaped garden, plus two bathrooms, a truly amazing modern kitchen, and double garaging, it’s hard to ask for anything more. However, there is, in fact, an added bonus in the form of fantastic, floodlit, kwila-deck outside entertaining areas and all of this is within easy walking distance of Havelock North Village.
You might think that million-dollar properties would be a dime-a-dozen in the nation’s capital city but in Wellington too, it’s often tricky finding something that almost hits or even crosses the magical line. This great Maungaraki 252sqm executive home on 1482sqm, at 49 Dowse Drive, nearly gets there at $989,000, and it offers a raft of features to prospective buyers with lovely harbour views, three big double bedrooms, a modern kitchen and bathrooms, two living areas, plus separate dining and a master suite, where the fourth bedroom enjoys its own private patio.
The home is fully-insulated and comes with added extras, such as the central vacuum system. If you would like to purchase it complete with furniture, the vendor is happy to talk.
Palmerston North is a lovely place to bring up a family and if you want to move there with all the hard work having been done already, then take a look at this little treasure, with interest invited from buyers in the $799,000 +, ballpark. At 27 Phoenix Avenue, in handy Hokowhitu, it’s a superbly- refurbished, expansive four double-bedroom, two-bathroom 218sqm home, on 773sqm in a family-friendly neighbourhood.
The living areas are large and airy and there’s also an office and the all-important separate laundry. The grounds are green, pleasant and easy-care and the pool will be a sure-hit with kids during the up-coming kiwi summer. This fabulous property is close to schools, to the river and to Massey University and Fonterra. If you want to shrug off your big-city mortgage and enjoy life again, this is the place to come.
It’s taken a while on our whirlwind New Zealand tour, but we’ve finally found a property with a price that’s practically on-par with Stu and Amy’s Block masterpiece in Hobsonville Point, West Auckland. In Christchurch, the Garden City, 4 Rivers Edge in Northwood is on the market for $1,010,000 and it’s a wonderful property.
Spread over a luxurious 282sqm floor area, set on 794sqm of land, it boasts four big bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double garage. Much attention has been paid to the little details and this elegant dwelling has a high-end sound system, built in furniture, a fabulous kitchen with walk-in pantry plus huge, sunny living areas, decking, a spa pool and the most perfect lawn you’ve ever seen.
Further south, in Dunedin, million-dollar-properties don’t come to market very often, but with interest invited at $800,000 +, this huge 392sqm, 1970s five-bedroom character home at 27A Riccarton Road East, in East Taieri (just 15 or so minutes-drive from downtown Dunedin) could be a good contender, on its 2,222sqm (approx.) section.
The ground floor is all family space, with a 23kw wood burner for winter warmth, plus diesel-fired central heating. Cooks will adore the kitchen with its quality appliances and other bells and whistles. With a large formal lounge, numerous living areas, guest quarters, ample storage space and of course all that lovely land, it comes complete with a smart new hen house and a real southern rarity in the form of a covered, heated, lap-pool.
