Fancy owning your own bay in Marlborough Sounds? How about lots of them? Then Summit agent Angus Malcolm has a deal for you.
Malcolm is marketing two neighbouring land holdings on Arapaoa Island for $1.5 million-plus each.
Together, Waikakaramea Bay and Deep Bay offer more than 500 hectares, multiple bays and beaches, and dense forests populated with deer, wild pigs and goats.
Malcolm said both properties were only accessible by boat or helicopter and remained untouched since their purchase about five years ago.
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The 125ha block in Waikakaramea Bay, on the island’s northern side, comes with a basic two-bedroom house and includes a long stretch of beach with a jetty and mooring.
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With 12 titles already in place, Malcolm said a group could buy the land and build their own holiday home. The regenerated pine trees could be then killed off and replanted with native forest, he added.
The Waikakaramea Bay property currently provides access to a larger 390ha block in Deep Bay on the other side of the island, which also has beachfront access and a long stretch of the coast.
Malcolm said on this side, about 120ha of mature pine trees had been planted on the block in 1973, which was quite “unusual”.
Waikakaramea Bay comes with an existing two-bedroom bach. Photo / Supplied
The jetty will also be a helpful addition for those arriving on Arapaoa Island by boat. Photo / Supplied
However, he said the trees could be logged at the right time and the land then subdivided. “You can subdivide down to 30ha in the Sounds so you get a lot of 30ha sections out of 390ha.”
However, these secluded bays do come with a catch as they can only be accessed by boat or air.
“You’d need someone quite adventurous and someone who can see past the trees to the potential of the land.
“It’s an interesting place to be in the Sounds. Lots of coastline and lots of areas to play with and explore.”
Bayleys agent Will Porter said the Arapaoa Island blocks and another 152.03ha block he is selling at Snake Point, in Bay of Many Coves, had some of the largest forests within the Marlborough Sounds.
Other pine forests in the Sounds had already been chopped up into smaller blocks and now had some stunning holiday homes on them, he said.
Porter, who is selling the Snake Point property, said the 90ha of regenerated pine forest on it was less exciting than the fact people had the chance to own their peninsula.
A 152.03ha land block including 90ha of regenerated pine trees is for sale on Snake Point, in Marlborough Sounds. Photo / Supplied
“The core value doesn’t lie within the commercial forestry, but it lies within the in-centric value of beautiful waterfront land. Big landholdings for cheap money.
“A lot of people buy them to eventually build a property on them. The cool thing about these large landholdings is that you’ve got a whole bunch of different potential building sites, different views and different beaches to pick from.”
The Snake Point property was already split in two titles and people only had to look at the 40-plus houses scattered around the peninsula to see the potential, he said.
“We are not talking humble little Kiwiana baches, we are talking big $2m to $3m jobbies.”
An example of what is being built on them is this luxury four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on 1.07ha at 1 Snake Point that is for sale with an asking price of $1.95m-plus and, according to the listing, is a “rare opportunity to own your very own slice of private peninsula known as Snake Point”.
The owners are selling the impressive home to build next door. “They love it that much.”
Some of the land has already been sold off and replaced with luxury homes such as this property at 1 Snake Point, in Queen Charlotte Sound. Photo / Supplied
And while it was not on an island, Snake Point too can only be accessed by water, or air, which he said almost added to the exclusivity.
“Boats, choppers, planes. Lots of these people are from the North Island so they will just drive to the bottom of it and then get flights on float planes or helicopters.”
Porter said in the past people had bought a large block, taken time to work out where they wanted to build and then sold off the remaining land they no longer needed.
“A lot of people buy them to eventually build a property on them. The cool thing about these large landholdings is that you’ve got a whole bunch of different potential building sites, different views and different beaches to pick from.”
Other people bought them to land-bank or to “pay it forward” by removing the pine and replacing them with native trees.
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