Feature article

What’s it like to live in Birkenhead?

There’s a lot to love about Birkenhead.

Your home isn’t just a roof over your head. The area surrounding it plays a huge part in your day-to-day life, and that of your family – so you need to find the perfect fit.

Property viewings help you get a feel for individual homes, but how can you learn about a suburb as a whole? Well, in addition to walking its streets, this is a question of good old fashioned research.

To help you decide which is the best suburb in Auckland for your next home, we’ll be exploring some of the city’s commonly searched areas, so you can make up your mind on what’s right for you.

This time, we’re exploring picturesque Birkenhead.

Birkenhead’s property landscape

Average Birkenhead property prices:

For the six months to July 31, 2021, Birkenhead house prices* looked like this:

House: $1.32 m.
Townhouse: $1.15 m.
Apartment: $1.13 m.
Unit: $727.88k.

Birkenhead property types:

For the six months to July 31, 2020, Birkenhead saw 116 properties listed for sale on Trade Me. These were broken down as follows:

House: 93 listings.
Townhouse: 13 listings.
Apartment: 9 listings.
Unit: 1 listing.

Easy access to the beautiful Waitematā Harbour is one of the many benefits of life in Birkenhead.

Life in Birkenhead

With access to the Waitematā Harbour, large pockets of native bush and an eclectic and popular mix of local shops, Birkenhead has become an increasingly sought after Auckland suburb for home buyers. Here are a few reasons why:

Highbury shops: the collection of shops around Highbury is a focal point for Birkenhead locals. From popular local butchers to opp shops and cafes, this friendly locale is a great place to get stocked up on essentials as well as browse for that perfect piece to bring your living room to life.
The Waitematā Harbour: from Birkenhead, there are plenty of easy opportunities to access the harbour, making it a perfect place for watersports enthusiasts. The sheltered waters of Chelsea Bay is one such spot, complete with its own beach!
Chelsea Estate Heritage Park: home to the instantly recognisable Chelsea Sugar Refinery, this coastal reserve provides sweeping views of the Harbour and CBD skyline as well as history, art and native bird species – a great place for a stroll or family picnic.

Getting around

For Birkenhead residents looking to commute into the Auckland CBD for work, there are a couple of options for those who want to avoid the traffic over the Harbour Bridge:

The Birkenhead ferry: Birkenhead has its very own ferry terminal, with services that can deliver passengers to Auckland CBD in roughly 15 minutes. You can use your AT HOP card on this ferry.
Bus services: A number of buses run over the Harbour Bridge in a designated bus lane, cutting down the commute time compared to driving. These services include the 97B, the 95B and the 931.

Birkenhead is also conveniently located for SH1, allowing residents to nip up North to enjoy the beaches and delights of Northland.

Schools in Birkenhead

For parents of school-aged children, there are a number of great education options on offer in the area:

Birkenhead Primary School: 77 Mokoia Road.
Northcote Intermediate School: 145-157 Lake Road.
Birkenhead College: 140 Birkdale Road.

If you want to know more about individual properties within Birkenhead, try our free Property Insights tool. This interface allows you to view records, rateable values (RVs), estimates and recent sales for over 1.5 million NZ properties, as well as tracking how these values change over time.

* All data is for the six months to 31 July 2021 and is derived from properties listed on Trade Me Property. Average house prices are mean prices for the suburb over the same time period.

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