RICH PICKINGS

It was the first suburb to break the $2m mark, but does Herne Bay have more to offer than multi-million dollar mansions?

This gracious corner of Auckland, first established in the 1850s, set a new benchmark for average property value in June 2015, when, with great fanfare, it reached $2,003,300.

Herne Bay, named after an elegant, seaside town in Kent, England, has remained popular with buyers seeking the faithfully restored villas or the thrill of edgy architectdesigned new-builds. The tony suburb is in easy proximity of central amenities. As bonus, many Herne Bay properties on the northern slopes (this is definitely a suburb of two halves) enjoy spectacular harbour views.

Herne Bay was one of Auckland’s very first commuter suburbs, originally because the central city was easily reached from by sea, with private boats navigating around the edge of the Waitamata Harbour. Wealthy colonial arrivals constructed large homes for themselves, their families, and staff, some with jetties and boathouse. Eventually, direct roads and trams connected to the city.

That easy access to the city is still one of Herne Bay’s most attractive features, along with excellent schools: Ponsonby Primary School, established in 1873, and Bayfield School, which opened around 10 years later.

Many of Herne Bay’s elaborate colonial villas fell into disrepair during the 1960s and 1970s when city-fringe housing was abandoned in favour of shiny new suburbs. But, since then, sympathetic renovations have transformed these homes into ultra-modern, spacious dwellings, with their original character facades lining rows of pretty streets.

Who lives here and what do they do?

Not surprisingly, Herne Bay inhabitants come from professional and managerial class (some 58 percent of adults), and, to afford those prices, nearly half the households have income in excess of $100,000.

Herne Bay is popular with families, but there are also

“Property pundits have predicted that going by past history, Herne Bay will be New Zealand’s first $3 million suburb.”

plenty of singles and couples making the most of smart town houses and apartments from the 1960s right through to brand new.

What’s to love?

Along the main strip of Jervois Road, cafes, restaurants, bars and boutiques cater to the needs of the up-scale residents. Saturday and Sunday mornings the footpath is teaming with bikes and buggies as families step out together for breakfast or brunch.

In summertime the tiny beaches at the bottom of the streets and pocket parks are popular with locals, their pets and visitors. Picturesque beaches with boat sheds and jetties are the local secret. For those who don’t like dipping in the sea, historic Point Erin Pool is an excellent pool and park complex, and cyclists and walkers can join the Westhaven boardwalk for a complete offroad jaunt to Wynyard Quarter.

Locals tend to be communityminded, and many social networks operate around neighbourhood schools and general family activities. Residents’ association Herne Bay 1011 raises awareness around council matters - planning, the environment and retention of the suburb’s unique character are top of their agenda. Plans by rich-lister Rod Duke to build a helicopter landing pad at his Sarsfield Street property have recently provoked vigorous debate amongst residents.

Buying and selling

Bayleys Ponsonby manager Bernadette Morrison says that while people automatically associate Herne Bay with large villas, there’s actually a diverse mix of properties in Herne Bay.

“Everybody knows the multi-storey Shangri La and Westwater complexes in Shelly Beach Road, and those apartments are always very much desired and tightly held. We also have quite a number of nice 1960s units as well, and some Art Deco flats, so the entry point into Herne Bay could quite reasonably be in the $800,000 - $900,000 region.”

She adds: “This is an area that’s always going to hold its own, no matter what the rest of the market is doing.”

Morrison says that many Herne Bay residents simply move within the suburb from street to street, depending on their current needs at each stage of their lives. “There are families who have lived here for years and when the parents become empty nesters, they simply downsize to something smaller, not far away, and people with younger children move into those big homes,” she says.

Property pundits have predicted that going by past history, Herne Bay will be New Zealand’s first $3 million suburb. Morrison thinks that’s a real possibility, but it’s quite a way off yet.

“It will all come down to supply and demand in the end.”