A near-new property just minutes from Whangamata Beach has come up for sale after the owners decided to relocate a year after their designer house was completed.
The current owners bought the property at 221 Sylvia Road with an older-style home on the site in 2019 for $850,000, OneRoof property records show, and set about demolishing and replacing it with a modern home designed by the architect owner.
But after only a year of living it the immaculate single-level property complete with pool, a change of plans means the owners are now moving out of the beach town.
Whangamata Real Estate agent Pete Sheppard said new or near-new homes such as the four-bedroom, two-bathroom Sylvia Road property on an 816sqm section that was only completed last year do not often come up for sale.
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“It’s rare to have a nice contemporary home, quality build, architectural design in this sort of quality beach location because normally does the build for themselves and they kept it.”
The house has a resort-like feel with the open plan living leading to a large covered area and even a pool, which according to Sheppard is relatively uncommon in the beach town.
“There are clean lines and lots of attention to detail. They’ve got some nice custom-made timber features in the bathrooms and kitchens – it's got a custom-built feel to it for sure.”
The property was built as a permanent residence, he said, but would suit retirees, families or even those looking for a holiday home most likely from Auckland, Hamilton or the Bay of Plenty.
The vendors removed the original bach from the site and started from scratch. Photo / Supplied
This stylish home on Williamson Road, in Whangamata, sold under the hammer for $2.19m. Photo / Supplied
While there is still interest in property in Whangamata across the board, Sheppard said the biggest demand seems to be for the higher-end homes.
“Probably our top-end is I’d say the healthiest part of our market at the moment because those buyers are less reliant on finance and they can just respond to what’s listed basically.”
A renovated four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Wiliamson Road sold last month at a Harcourts auction for $2.19m.
Harcourts Whangamata business owner Paul Prouse said the Williamson Road property was an original bach on an 822sqm section that had been completely revamped including with double glazing.
Prouse said there are more baches being pulled down due to a lot of people favouring the newer style houses, but those people then usually rebuilt the homes to live in themselves.
“They are usually people that are holding them in general. They may have had the old bach in the family and decide it’s time to put something new on. There’s a tonne of building going on in Whangamata at the moment and that hasn’t slowed down at all.”
“There’s a lot of reasonably big homes going in which kind of indicates more permanent people are coming here to enjoy the sun which is on most of the time and getting out of the rat race.”
The baby boomer generation is also thinking about the next chapter of their lives and whether they wanted to stay in Auckland or head to the beach, he said.
“And I think that’s happening in Omaha, Whangamata – anywhere that’s close to Auckland so they can still be close to the family, but why not live at the beach.”
Prouse said those who added pools usually only did so if they planned to live at the property permanently. They are often looking for single-level properties or for properties with lifts.
A two-bedroom beach for sale at 204B Casement Road, in Whangamata. Photo / Supplied
For those looking to downsize, a modern two-bedroom home at 204b Casement Road with a sleepout is being sold by negotiation.
There are still just under 50 properties for sale in the town and while it had picked up from the last two years where properties were being snapped up while people couldn’t go overseas, Prouse said it is still down on other years where there could be about 130 houses for sale at any one time.
Earlier this year, OneRoof reported that two Whangamata properties bought in the last 10 years and transformed from old 1970s baches to modern luxurious homes had sold. A near-new waterfront property on Beach Road fetched $4.8m in July and a three–bedroom, two-bathroom home on Tangaroa Road sold for $3.43m in August.
