NZ's first $2 million suburb

Auckland's swanky Herne Bay has become the first suburb in New Zealand where the average house price has broken the $2 million barrier.

The latest edition of Where to Live in Auckland, a handbook which details which neighbourhood offers what and how much it costs to live there, shows the average price is $2.19m, up 24 per cent on last year.

Herne Bay property is now 50 per cent higher than its nearest rival, Remuera.

Last year Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and his wife Mandy paid $5.6m for their home in Marine Parade, joining some well-heeled neighbours who, in some cases, have paid considerably more.

This year vodka king Geoff Ross, owner of 42 South, paid $8.45m for Wairangi, a waterfront villa once owned by the Sultan of Brunei.

"Herne Bay has always been a top performer, with Remuera and Parnell, but it has surged ahead," said the book's publisher, Stephen Hart. "For the first time we have a suburb which has cracked the $2m ceiling."

Hart says the Herne Bay area, which includes neighbouring St Marys Bay, is inhabited by younger, "more urbane" residents than suburbs like Remuera.

To read the full NZ Herald article click here

Posted: 22 Dec 2008

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