Mike Broome’s first sale on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula was for a mere $57,000 – but that was 22 years ago and, boy, things have changed.
The Mike Pero brand and territory owner says the house was in Ladies Mile in Manly which is now a popular street on the Peninsula and walkable to Big Manly Beach.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anything remotely coastal for under $1 million these days – it’s a lot more for anywhere on the flat in Manly and you can add in several more millions for absolute beachfront.
Manly is just one of many sought-after suburbs on the 11km peninsula about 30-40 minutes from the CBD which has seen phenomenal price growth over the past year.
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There are more than a dozen beaches and Shakespear Regional Park at the end is protected by a predator fence.
Tindalls Beach, where Americas Cup yachtsman Sir Russell Coutts bought up several beachfront sections to build his big home, is one of the most desirable locations but hard to get into.
A big windsurfing community also moved to the Peninsula, including Olympic gold medallist Barbara Kendall, “because if it wasn’t windy on the southern side of the Peninsula they'd get a breeze on the northern side”, says Broome.
Once dominated by traditional Kiwi baches, the coastline is a different beast these days.
The baches have mostly given way to permanent homes and in many instances have been pulled down and replaced by newer housing and beachside mansions.
The view from the peninsula to Rangitoto. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Where people once thought the Peninsula was too far away to live, now they are clamouring to find a property with a sea view near a beach – though Broome points out you’re never far from a beach even if you’re inland.
Like the rest of the country, the price growth has shot up. The average value for a property for wider Manly now sits at $1.446m, up $312,000 in 12 months.
Average values for other sought-after coastal areas have also rocketed – OneRoof data puts Red Beach at $1.454m (up 30.6 per cent) and tightly-held Tindalls Beach is up 27.5 per cent to $1.94m – that’s a $419,000 increase.
Others include Arkles Bay which is up 27.1 per cent to $1.345m, Army Bay is up 28.2 per cent to $1.385m, Stanmore Bay is up 27.90 per cent to $1.259m, and Gulf Harbour is up 29.4 per cent to $1.225m.
Broome recalls back in the days before the internet if you were selling at Gulf Harbour you wouldn’t put the address in the ad because people would hang up because of the perception it was too far away to live, and back when the Peninsula was mostly baches people from the city didn’t want to live in a street surrounded by old baches but “now, well, it’s ‘can you find us an old bach?’”
Today, the motorway is close and there’s a ferry from Gulf Harbour into town.
But listings are tight with competition from locals, from people from the North Shore and from mums and dads looking for a home for expat children who are returning.
A brick and tile home in Manly recently sold for $898,000. Photo / Supplied
In turn, many of those who do list don’t like how busy the Peninsula is getting so are moving out of the area to places like Tauranga, Taupo, Whanganui and Chirstchurch, says Broome.
You can occasionally still pick up somewhere with a sea view for under $1m, though it would likely be a partial, obstructed or distant view.
Broome sold a brick and tile attached townhouse with a view on Tower Hill, in Manly, for $898,000 at the end of last year.
He thinks value-wise the Peninsula will always be running on the shirttails of suburbs like Takapuna, Devonport and Birkenhead because of their proximity to the city and says the values are closer to those in Torbay to the north of the North Shore.
Mark Holliday, Barfoot & Thompson’s branch manager for Whangaparaoa, says demand is strong because of the beaches and the lifestyle.
There are marinas and boats can be launched off a lot of the beaches, too.
“In terms of pure beachfronts themselves, yes, there's been a big upswing in demand and values for those over the last year or two.
“People are really seeking them out and they are getting record prices now. It used to top out at about $5m and $6m for the best beachfronts but now we’re getting sales at that level – it’s a new world basically.”
A big sale recently in Red Beach, for $9m, wasn’t pure beach front but still fetched that amazing sum, he says.
He agrees the flat at Manly is among the most sought-after locations, along with Tindalls, Arkles, Little Manly and Stanmore Bay.
The beaches along the peninsula are a huge drawcard for buyers at the bottom and top end of the market. Photo / Fiona Goodall
“Probably the most spectacular prices we are seeing are in Manly and Red Beach. There's some clifftop properties in Red Beach that have recently sold for record prices that are looking over the estuary in Orewa, and also the ones closest to the beach on the flat at Manly are real hot spots.”
Listings are “desperately” short, though, with way more demand than supply and properties often sell in the first week or get a fast pre-auction offer.
“Our base price now is not much under $1m for anything on the Peninsula.”
Holliday says about half of buyers of coastal spots are local families who are upgrading.
“We have quite a lot of local buyers who buy these prime properties. They've been here, they know the area and they quite often aspire to living right on the beach and they're in a situation where they can so we always get quite a lot of local interest in the best properties.”
Holliday says while behind some parts of Auckland in terms of values the Peninsula is much more comparable with North Shore prices these days.
