One of the great things about Wellington, says Craig Lowe, managing director of Lowe & Co Real Estate, is you don’t have to go far to get a coastal lifestyle even if you do work in the city.
Lowe sells a lot around the south coast of the windy city and says there are some great beaches in the eastern bays, including in pricey Seatoun and neighbouring Breaker Bay.
“It’s a big, long coastline that runs around the south and east of Wellington and it’s all connected, and really central.
“You can be at the coast in 10 minutes from the central city on that side of town.”
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Unlike Auckland, where people might have a holiday home somewhere like the Coromandel, in Wellington you can have it all, Lowe says.
“You can have a coastal lifestyle that feels like you're on holiday but you are a 10 minutes’, 12 minutes’ drive from the central city. That's one of the amazing things about Wellington.”
Seatoun is expensive, though, with the highest average sale price of anywhere in the capital.
You’re not likely to get in for under $1m, says Lowe. His company recently sold 36 Mantell Street for just over $2m and 24 Ferry Street for $1.53m.
People like the suburb because of the coastal village lifestyle, he says. Lowe grew up over the hill in Miramar and has seen “massive change” with the gentrification of these areas, much of which he relates to The Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson.
“You know, Wellywood, and his influence out there. When I was growing up it was corner dairies and fish and chip shops but now there’s restaurants and cafes. “
Further along the Miramar Peninsula are the golden sands of Karaka Bay and Scorching Bay – they’re lovely but cold, he says. “We’re closer to Antarctica so if you don’t mind running in and running out it’s a wonderful part of the world to swim in and many people do.”
This home in Mantell Street, in Seatoun, was recently snapped up for more than $2m. Photo / Supplied
A house on Ferry Street was sold by Lowe and Co Real Estate for $1.53m. Photo / Supplied
The Rings influence also extends to Karaka Bay. A waterfront home on Karaka Bay Road that once rented by Lord of the Rings actor Orlando Bloom while he was filming the Hobbit in New Zealand sold during the boom for $2.42m. The house now has an RV of $3m.
While sea views are valued in Wellington, Lowe says there’s also a trend towards villas on flat sections that offer indoor/outdoor flow.
“Particularly, families are really enamoured with the classic villa. For lack of a better word, the kind of Ponsonby villa, with the flat back yard and the border garden and the French doors and the flow and then the open plan kitchen, dining, living.”
Over the last 20 years there’s been a fascinating change from desiring a big house on a hill with a view, to something flat in the middle of a village, he says.
Wellington is hilly and it’s hard to get indoor/outdoor flow on a hill, Lowe says.
When Wellingtonians do seek out a holiday home, they’re likely to go north, to either the Kapiti Coast or the Wairarapa, he says, and few take the ferry to the South Island.
“If you take a car it's a whole day on the ferry and the Cook Strait is a wild place. It's not really like just getting over to Waiheke, it's more treacherous.”
Sir Peter Jackson with the cast of King Kong at Miramar Studios. Photo / Getty Images
A Karaka Bay home rented by Orlando Bloom while he was filming the Hobbit sold for $2.42m. Photo / Supplied
Eddie Winkel, a director of DoubleWinkel (the Professionals), sells coastal properties north and south of Paraparaumu from Paekakariki in the south to Waitarere Beach in the north.
The Kapiti Coast has a variety of beaches and there are still plenty of baches around, from hardiplank ones built in the 1970s and 1980s to classic Kiwi baches from the 1930s and 1940s.
Some of these will be pulled down to make way for newer holiday homes.
“A lot of people are buying them for a lot of money and at some point they'll knock them down and build something better, but there is still appeal,” he says.
“It's got that sort of magic you remember as a kid; nice big section where you can put your tent up and have people stay so there's still an element of that.”
The area has opened up because of the new expressway and when it became known the expressway was definitely going ahead, about five or six years ago, certain parts of the Kapiti Coast took off, Winkel says.
“One was Waikanae Beach. They were paying $800,000 or $900,000 for a little bach which then became $1.1m, $1.2m.”
Otaki, which has one dairy, is now in demand, too, now the expressway is nearly complete, he says. “All of a sudden people have realized it’s 45 minutes from Wellington.”
It’s not just Wellingtonians seeking out these areas but people from Palmerston North and Manawatu.
Beaches like Waitarere and Waikawa are handy for them and they are nice beaches, Winkel says.
Over the Remutaka Hill into the Wairarapa is also popular with Wellingtonians, some of whom have settled in the area.
The wild and magical Kapiti Coast. Photo / Getty Images
The lagoon at Riversdale beach. Photo / Getty Images
Others look for a beach home and may head to Riversdale or Castlepoint, both under an hour from Masterton.
Adrian Denniston, from New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty, says there are more people wanting to buy in Riversdale beach and Castlepoint in the Wairarapa than stock available. They are coming from mainly Wellington and the Wairarapa and while some are wanting to move permanently, most are looking for holiday homes.
Riversdale is the bigger community of 350 or so houses plus a development called The Riversdale Terraces where you can still pick up a section for $270,000.
Sections sold out fast after the big lockdown but more are potentially coming on the market, Denniston says.
Riversdale beach and Castlepoint offer different options, he says.
“Riversdale beach has got really good facilities. It's purpose-made so it's got the golf course and club, a shop/cafe, surf club, and all within walking distance of your house.”
Castlepoint is a more rugged, windswept beach and one of the most beautiful parts of the country with camping and good boat launching – it’s regularly voted in New Zealand’s top 10 beaches, Denniston says.
