Beachfront Property [Northland]

[TTrader]

What is everyone's take on beachfront property up north right now?

I am looking at purchasing a bare piece of land and building a garage/sleep out (Water tank, old stove, small fridge, solar panels/geni). Until the area is built up a little and I have the funds available to connect utilities and build a decent property.

Ideally I'd like to find an area with no sealed roads, power, water, phone ect. to simply pickup the land on the cheap with the intention of holding it 10-20+ years for further development in the area (few more batches ect.)

I have found a few places so far but am simply wondering on this kind of setup and how common it is for people to do this.

I guess at the end of the day its always a bit of hit and miss whether additional land will be sold and batches will get built up (council roads ect.)

[Skol]

Haven't been up there for a while but I've heard that there's heaps of sections for sale in Northland and now is as good a time as any to buy one.
You could have some fun stooging around up there, some real attractive places.

[CJ]

The market is quite depressed so if you have cash and plan to hold for a long time, now would be as good as ever.

[Skol]

Going back a few years I had a neighbour who owned a camper van and travelled a lot. He used to spend a bit of time at Tauranga Bay, Bay of Islands, said it was an idyllic spot, but not many people visited because of the unsealed road.

[Dr_Who]

Any other untouched location up there that is cheap to put a caravan for holidays?

Tauranga Bay sounds interesting. How much average price for a piece of land there?

[Snapper]

Anyone had a look at Ahipara/Shipwrecks Bay? Surf is meant to be great, nice little town, can go to either coast, start of 90 mile beach, sounds great

[Dr_Who]

I cant believe the property prices at Ahipara. It is more expensive than Auckland. I ve had a look around that area. The problem with way up north is that it is so far away from Auckland, about 4-5 hours drive. :eek:

[Sideshow Bob]

The problem with way up north is that it is so far away from Auckland, about 4-5 hours drive.

I can only see this as a positive point!! ;)

[Skol]

Give anything a wide berth that is tainted by maori land claims, it's the kiss of death and guaranteed to make your investment worth a big fat 0.

[CJ]

Anyone had a look at Ahipara/Shipwrecks Bay? Surf is meant to be great, nice little town, can go to either coast, start of 90 mile beach, sounds great
Grandparents use to have a place up there when we were kids. Sold just before the prices skyrocketed.

Good surf but very rough for swimmers.

Nice wide beach. We had lots of rocks out front which were great for playing in/around (rock pools, hunting crabs etc).

Good for surf casting.

It is a long drive though. It was never used enough has the trip couldn't be justified unless you went for over a week.

the family now has one in Omaha which is used a lot more. We got in before it got flash so it has definitely changed (I remember when the golf course had only 9 holes and no sand bunkers!)

[Arbitrage]

John Key has a place at Omaha too.

Many of the landowners at Omaha are currently preparing to battle a huge subdivision proposed up the hill at the end of the Spit. They are worried about the impact of houses up there would be on the prisitine harbour. I think the golf club is leading the battle.

[dartMonkey]

TT,
I would think that you won't find anything other than expensive beachfront.
There are some good priced residential subdivisions back from the beach on the market now at Ahipara and Karikari Peninsula (Tokerau Beach) which I think could be good investments.
There's the odd property at Houhora/Pukenui that comes up that seems comparatively cheap.
There are (or were a few months back) some nice sized rural blocks at Henderson Bay not too far back from the beach that I thought were exceptional value.
If it's Hokianga Harbour on the West Coast and North or Whangarei on the East Coast and North let us know.
PS: I'm not a Real Estate Agent. :mad:
PSS: I spend 4 or 5 days a week either surfing or fishing from Whangarei to the Cape - Ahipara is base camp. :D
PSSS: My heart bleeds custard for you people stuck in Auckland. :p

[Snapper]

TT,
I would think that you won't find anything other than expensive beachfront.
There are some good priced residential subdivisions back from the beach on the market now at Ahipara and Karikari Peninsula (Tokerau Beach) which I think could be good investments.
There's the odd property at Houhora/Pukenui that comes up that seems comparatively cheap.
There are (or were a few months back) some nice sized rural blocks at Henderson Bay not too far back from the beach that I thought were exceptional value.
If it's Hokianga Harbour on the West Coast and North or Whangarei on the East Coast and North let us know.
PS: I'm not a Real Estate Agent. :mad:
PSS: I spend 4 or 5 days a week either surfing or fishing from Whangarei to the Cape - Ahipara is base camp. :D
PSSS: My heart bleeds custard for you people stuck in Auckland. :p

I'm jealous as hell. We haven't had any surf in the Mount here for 2-3 weeks, hardly a ripple! And you've got two coasts to choose from as well. What a lifestyle!

[CJ]

John Key has a place at Omaha too.

Many of the landowners at Omaha are currently preparing to battle a huge subdivision proposed up the hill at the end of the Spit. They are worried about the impact of houses up there would be on the prisitine harbour. I think the golf club is leading the battle. Key is not to far from us, though he is beachfront and we are at the high point in the center of the spit (we are looking forward to global warming will make our section an island paradise).

You are correct on the subdivision. As if ruining the rural view we have isn't enough, I understand they want to make it high density (ie 4 story apartment complexes etc). Congestion at the boat ramp would be worse than auckland rush hour! The only reason for the council to accept it is for the rates grab they will be able to do.

[bear]

Going back a few years I had a neighbour who owned a camper van and travelled a lot. He used to spend a bit of time at Tauranga Bay, Bay of Islands, said it was an idyllic spot, but not many people visited because of the unsealed road.

Hey Skol

Tauranga Bay is now on sealed roads as is most of the tourist routes nowadays. Tauranga Bay not too bad but most available property is in the hills which is pretty steep and could be difficult to build on.

Camping ground is not too bad (prime position) but is 20mins from closest town (Kaeo or Whangaroa) which are small anyway.

Smoe very nice bays just south of Tauranga Bay but it all depends what you want.

Bear

[bear]

Give anything a wide berth that is tainted by maori land claims, it's the kiss of death and guaranteed to make your investment worth a big fat 0.

Whilst there may be claims on many private properties in the Far North (claims tend to blanket areas) and elsewhere only land that is crown owned or owned by crown entities such as landcorp are used for settlements. The remaining compensation is usually cash or similar.

There has been one exception and this was Mangonui? Bluff near Dargaville and was former crown land which should never have been sold in the first place. Person involved compensated well for this crown mistake. He only owned it for about a year.

[bear]

TT,
I would think that you won't find anything other than expensive beachfront.
There are some good priced residential subdivisions back from the beach on the market now at Ahipara and Karikari Peninsula (Tokerau Beach) which I think could be good investments.
There's the odd property at Houhora/Pukenui that comes up that seems comparatively cheap.
There are (or were a few months back) some nice sized rural blocks at Henderson Bay not too far back from the beach that I thought were exceptional value.
If it's Hokianga Harbour on the West Coast and North or Whangarei on the East Coast and North let us know.
PS: I'm not a Real Estate Agent. :mad:
PSS: I spend 4 or 5 days a week either surfing or fishing from Whangarei to the Cape - Ahipara is base camp. :D
PSSS: My heart bleeds custard for you people stuck in Auckland. :p

I agree with most of what you have said although additionally there is some good value in places such as Coopers Beach and Cable Bay where developers are hurting. Fully serviced sections (some sizeable) recently auctioned - mortgagee (3-4 months ago) at between 45-60% of GV.

Now some of these may be selling but there are literally hundreds and hundreds of sections in the whole of the Far North and those developers and mum/dads that are hurting are selling for whatever they can get to get some of their money back. There are also plenty of consented development not yet with title or being held back for better times.

Larger towns like Kerikeri, Paihia and greater Russell area also have several hundred available (not all are on the market) and up to 40% less than what they were two years ago. Council has also reduced Development Contributions in an effort to stimulate some development.

Feel free to ask more questions about the Far North

I would also say that the most isolated remaining areas are between Rawhiti and Whangarei on the east coast; North Hokianga harbour; parts of the east coast such as Kaimaumau, Taupo Bay, and my two favourite places Mahinepua and Taupuatahi.

Bear

[Skol]

Whilst there may be claims on many private properties in the Far North (claims tend to blanket areas) and elsewhere only land that is crown owned or owned by crown entities such as landcorp are used for settlements. The remaining compensation is usually cash or similar.

There has been one exception and this was Mangonui? Bluff near Dargaville and was former crown land which should never have been sold in the first place. Person involved compensated well for this crown mistake. He only owned it for about a year.

That's the theory.

There was an incident some years back where a farmer who owned his freehold farm up north had a tribe claim his land. He couldn't sell it , it was worth nothing, it was scandalous and in the end the govt. bought it and gave it to them.
If it suits them the maoris will claim land, look no further than the Aussie guy who bought a factory in Kaitaia and couldn't take possession because the local maoris claimed it.

They claimed the airspace around Rotorua airport a while back so they could charge aircraft to fly through it.
New Plymouth maoris claimed airspace from sea level to infinity and some time back they wanted to be paid for radio transmissions through maori airspace. As if they invented electromagnetic radiation.



Be careful, currently 4.2 million acres is being claimed between Waiuku and the Three Kings Islands.

Claim No. 186 for example is described as "Land in Hurstmere Road, Takapuna".

[Casa del Energia]

Have never thought it worthwhile paying a premium to have your roof rusted out quickly by buying beach front - but if you do, why not go as cheap as you can and buy in the SI - the money saved can more than pay for the airline tickets.

e.g. This development is 2k down the road from me...

http://www.westcoastproperty.co.nz/show?rd=1&ref=BRE10762

[Arbitrage]

The best airfare this coming weekend is $758 return, Auckland - Westport with a travel time of over 5 hours. For a family of four it could build up fairly quickly as a weekend escape!

[Casa del Energia]

The best airfare this coming weekend is $758 return, Auckland - Westport with a travel time of over 5 hours. For a family of four it could build up fairly quickly as a weekend escape!

That would be a premium price because of short notice. But, yeah - got to admit it would be a pain in the wotsit for AK'ers. Wellington, it's ok - plan ahead and it's 160 or 180 talers return, direct flight in a pencil plane. About the same as a place in Northland for AK domiciled folks - - what would it be? A tank of gasoline there and back = $100 plus running costs/depreciation on car.

[peat]

http://www.sra.co.nz/pdf/NorthlandUpdateNov09.pdf