One of the first families to build a bach on Matarangi’s coveted beachfront is selling up after almost 50 years.
The vendors’ parents built the three-bedroom holiday home at 244 Kenwood Drive in 1976 and the listing photos on OneRoof show how little it has changed over the years.
Still on the walls is the 1970s wallpaper, the original green porcelain bath and basin are still in use as is the kitchen cabinetry.
Matarangi Beach Realty agent Mark Hall called it a “time warp” bach but he noted that not everything in it was half a century old. The family had done several important upgrades over the years, including adding underfloor insulation and a gas hot water system.
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He said the bach was located in one of the town’s best spots and had uninterrupted views of the water and the beach, although he conceded the likely buyer might build a more modern home on the 1032sqm site. “If someone has a tonne of dosh and they want prime site, they are likely to do that,” he told OneRoof.
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The property hit the market at the end of last week but the agent had already fielded enquiries from neighbours who liked the idea of moving to the front row.
“This is Kiwiana, from when you didn’t have to worry about having a bonfire on the beach. Before all the people came and set all the rules.”
Hall said Matarangi was more affordable compared to other Coromandel beach towns.
“If you go to Whangapoua, which is just across the harbour, it’s quite expensive to get a beachfront [bach]. You would pay an arm and a leg – probably $3m-plus – for something like this. If you put that property in Omaha, it would probably sell for $6m.”
Hall said it was difficult to give a price indication for the property, which has an RV of $2.49m, but pointed to several recent sales on the waterfront which sold in the $3ms. “It’s certainly cheaper [than Pauanui and Whangamata] and it’s a better beach,” he said. “You only get one shot at buying this.”
The property exudes a retro vibe as it still has some of the original 1970s wallpaper and kitchen cabinets. Photo / Supplied
The green bath and vanity with matching wallpaper also dates back to the 1970s. Photo / Supplied
Richardsons Matarangi agent Simone Parr said the commute to Matarangi from the major cities took longer than the commute to Pauanui and Whangamata, which was probably one of the reasons it was more affordable.
Parr’s agency has sold two waterfront properties in Matarangi this year – a property on Kenwood Drive for $3.445m and an almost 2000sqm section in The Pines for $2.25m – and said the buyers were usually from out of town and already had friends or family in the area.
People used to target specific areas in the Coromandel but now buyers were looking all over the peninsula for homes. “Whangamata is very busy so people are coming a bit further out to have a look. We’ve got 5kms of beautiful sandy beach in Matarangi so there’s room for everybody.
“You don’t have to live in the hustle or bustle I suppose or holiday in the hustle and bustle and you get up on the beachfront it’s just nice and leisurely.”
Parr said the small surge in beachfront sales this year was due to owners deciding it was time to sell “for different reasons”.
The beachfront tended to fetch a more premium price than the harbour, she said, and a modern five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 132 Harbour Drive for sale by negotiation was likely to priced in the $2ms.
“Beachfront people always like beachfront, but the harbour has come into its own, and there’s some very lovely homes down there and of course you get the beautiful, beautiful sunsets across the harbour to the ranges and it always changes.”
- 244 Kenwood Drive, in Matarangi, Thames-Coromandel, has a deadline sale date of October 31
