Island living in the Hauraki Gulf

Waiheke Island veteran, Barfoot & Thompson agent, Howard Gee, explains some of the advantages about living on the island.

“What you get if you buy your first house on Waiheke is freedom, open spaces and amazing fresh air,” he says. “Waiheke probably gets 20% less summer rainfall than Auckland and it’s three or four degrees warmer.” As a consequence, olives and grapes grow well on the island as well as your garden vegetables.

“It’s just the lifestyle,” he continues. “You go to the beach every day, there are beautiful walks, and there’s a real sense of community,” he adds. He remembers word going out that a resident’s house had flooded up the road and he and his neighbours – eight of them, just arrived at the home to help clean up, without any formal call out for help.

Kellands agent, Cathy Carter, who has built her home on Waiheke, remembers bringing some home furnishings over on the ferry. She got on the bus with a 4 metre curtain pole and the driver put it down the length of the bus, asking all the passengers to stand up so he could make it work. He then dropped her off just outside her house rather than at the bus stop. She always waves to the bus drivers when she sees them, she says.

“It’s a lovely community, that’s what we’ve found and you can embrace that or not,” says the former Cantabrian. The island has a broad demographic, adds Cathy, who has her son and young family staying at the moment and they’re loving the experience, she says.

The Kellands agent, who lives in Oneroa, the first village you come to from the ferry, was admiring the view from the village out to sea the other day and a woman stopped to look too. They smiled at each other and agreed it was beautiful. “She said to me, “If I go to Auckland and smile at people, they look at me as if I’m mad,” retells the Kellands agent.

So where should first home buyers look on Waiheke for something they can afford and add value to?

“When we were looking to buy, people said you must buy on the northern side,” says Cathy. But you’re paying a premium because it’s got the vast sea views, and there’s a lot on the island that's just as beautiful, says the Kellands agent.

To first home buyers, she would suggest looking at Surfdale, Omiha (also known as Rocky Bay), Ostend, and the Blackpool side of Oneroa. Also if you’re happy to do without a sea view, you’ll buy well in Onetangi, known for its stunning beach, says the agent.

Barfoot’s Howard Gee is marketing a picture perfect home in Omiha in the $1.3 million price range and lives next door to the house.

When agents talk about entry-level prices on Waiheke they’re talking close to $1 million but there are some properties selling beneath that in the current softened market.

There are former baches coming to the market which would make good homes, says Howard. And sections in Omiha/Rocky Bay are usually around $450,000.

The good thing about island homes is they often have extra living space which can be rented out to add to your income if required. A Kellands’ listing on the market, a three bedroom Ostend home, asking $1.195 million, has a cabin with a deck and loft at the rear of the property, which could accommodate extra guests, suggests Cathy. A studio at the front of the property could be a good work from home option.

One of the most affordable islands for first home buyers in the Hauraki Gulf is Kawau Island, a ferry or water taxi ride away from Sandspit.

There’s a bit of a changing of the guard going on on the island at the moment, with older residents moving away, says agent Debbie Aldred. And this is giving some opportunities to new people to come to the island.

“I’ve just put a family in a house with three children.The kids are commuting to and from school at Snells Beach,” she says. A water taxi takes around 10 to 12 kids to school every morning, a half hour trip, she adds.

Kawau has some good deals on entry level homes at the moment. A newly completed three bedroom, two bathroom house is for sale at 50 Schoolhouse Bay Road for $850,000. It’s a good opportunity for a buyer not wanting to go through the inconvenience of building themselves. Being sold through LJ Hooker Warkworth’s Robert Hood, it has direct road access to the waterfront and boat ramp and it’s just a five minute walk to the public wharf and ferry.

Anyone who has visited Aotea Great Barrier Island, 90 km east of Auckland, will know it’s a very special place, and three times as big as Waiheke Island, at 285 sq km. Having said that, it's not nearly as populated as Waiheke, with 70% of the island Department of Conservation land.

And if your dream is to buy on the island, it’s highly likely you’ve holidayed there. Bayleys agent, Neill Clarke, who lives on Aotea Great Barrier, says: “People fall in love with a place like this, but you have to be committed.”

“I’ve not had any buyers who’ve purchased who haven’t at least spent some time here before,” he adds. The initiated will know that there’s no electricity supply, no banking facilities, no supermarkets, footpaths, streetlights or public transport. The residents are pros at living off grid, harnessing power from the sun and wind.

Neill’s part of the island, the northern boating haven of Port Fitzroy, is a favourite spot for boaties to pick up fuel, water and supplies in the Gulf.

“It’s great for fishing and feels like Marlborough Sound,” he says. “It’s very isolated but accessible,” explains the South African-born agent. There’s good roading on the island and the airport is excellent, he notes. The direct flight to Auckland is an hour, compared with the four and a half hour ferry.

“A lot of people are coming here instead of taking the four hour drive to Coromandel,” says a local agent. Great Barrier is just over 24 km from Coromandel Peninsula.

The Aotea Great Barrier community, 900 permanent residents (compared with 8900 on Waiheke) on the island is very strong. “Everyone knows everyone,” says Neil, but at the same time if you need your space and privacy, you’re left alone.”