Original Kiwi baches are getting bowled and replaced by sought-after multi-million dollar luxury homes in the blue-chip Coromandel location with impressive sales prices to match.
Two Whangamata properties, bought in the last 10 years and transformed from old 1970s baches to modern luxurious homes, have recently sold as holiday homes for $4.8 million and $3.43m.
Both homes were built by the previous owners after they purchased the decent sized parcels of land with small, old dwellings on them.
In July, a near-new waterfront property on Beach Road, described as “luxury harbour living” sold for $4.8m.
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The owners bought the two-bedroom 1970s bach on the 885sqm section in 2016 for $1.1m before replacing it with a “stunning” three-bedroom and three-bathroom home complete with lift. They lived in it for two years before selling it and moving out of the area.
Last month, a Diana Blake-designed three–bedroom, two-bathroom home on Tangaroa Road sold for $3.43m.
The property, described as having partial ocean views, had been purchased by the out-of-town owner in 2012 for $440,000, who, a few years later, bowled the small dwelling and built the three-storey holiday home in its place.
Ray White Whangamata agent Roxy Pease, who sold both properties with Mike Jeffcoat, said modern new-build or near new-build properties, especially on the waterfront, were in high demand and snapped up pretty quickly.
“Because there’s so many bachs, but it’s so hard to build at the moment, those modern homes are quite sought-after when they come on.”
The classic Kiwi bach on Beach Road that was removed to make way for the luxury home. Photo / Supplied
There is also growing demand for homes with lifts which, she said, was a huge selling point for the Beach Road home because it made it more appropriate for different generations.
“It was as new, it was stunning.”
With few sections left to be built on, Pease expects to see more original properties on the prime waterfront locations being knocked down.
However, those set a bit further back are more likely to be renovated or extended, she said.
“Those original ones have to be in pretty bad shape for them to bowl the whole thing. If it can be improved on or added to. I think people still like to get that original Kiwi bach.”
A “classic” four-bedroom, two-bathroom 1970s home on Given Avenue recently sold for $1.75m, and Pease expects this to be renovated or extended rather than bowled.
Whangamata Real Estate principal Murray Cleland said a lot of the baches were built in the 1950s to 1970s and many were now past their used-by date and were slowly being bowled over and replaced.
He said properties on prime waterfront locations such as Beach Road were “pretty upmarket”. “Some people would call them a beach house and some people would call them a permanent home.”
On the same road as the modern bach that sold in July, Harcourts is marketing a property at 509a Beach Road. It is priced by negotiation.
A three-storey home on Tangaroa Road, Whangamata, Coromandel, recently sold for $3.43m. Photo / Supplied
A single-level property on the harbourside, listed by Whangamata Real Estate, at 126 Patiki Place is asking for enquiries over $1.995m, while a beachfront property at 203B The Esplanade, that was rebuilt in in 2014, is taking interest over $3.4m.
In June a classic bach on Tangaroa Road sold for a record-breaking $6.52m in a competitive auction, making it the most expensive house to sell so far in the beach town this year.
Harcourts Whangamata owner Paul Prouse told OneRoof at the time of the sale that a lot of the neighbours had been surprised by the sale price and at some point, he expected the original property would be replaced.
“It’s a very original sort of bach, which may or may not stay on the property. They’ve really bought the land.”
The highest sale price for a residential property in Whangamata is held by a property on Seaview Road that sold for $7.41m in an off-market sale in June 2021.
A four-bedroom waterfront home at 509A Beach Road, in Whangamata, is on the market. Photo / Supplied
And it is not just properties in Whangamata that are getting replaced for new models, Harcourts Pauanui owner Alyce Rowe said it is happening in Pauanui too.
“There’s lots of that happening in Pauanui where a house will be demolished and a new house is going on.”
Rowe said a beachfront property in Pauanui that sold last year was already under construction with the top level of the house getting rebuilt.
However, she said the biggest challenge for Pauanui buyers at the moment was the huge shortage of houses for sale, which is down about 50% compared with the same period last year.
“We just can’t get enough listings for the buyer demand. I think it just shows that people are not having to sell. You talk about this pressure and thinking that people will have the pressure to sell their second dwellings, well it’s just not happening.”
And while offers are being made, Rowe said they are still having to bridge the gap between the buyers’ and the vendors’ expectations.
A three-bedroom home at 203B Esplanade Drive, Whangamata, is seeking offers over $3.4m. Photo / Supplied
“With the talk of gloom and doom in the market, buyers are making these offers going ‘no this is where it sits and it should sell for that’ and whilst it is true to a degree, but it’s also like when there’s not much on the market and people are not selling it holds values. Because it’s like if you want to get into the market here and then you’ve got to pay the prices when they come on.
“I think it’s safe to say prices here have held so where they’ve dropped in other parts of the country, we haven’t seen a drop here, but they are just sitting and they’ve remained that.”
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