Four Papamoa beach sections sell for $4.15m

The Beaches development on Papamoa Rd.

Four Papamoa sections worth a total of $4.15 million have been snapped up within two hours, as amenities are pushed to the limit by the suburb's steady growth.

The sections, at the 24ha Coast Papamoa Beach subdivision near Tauranga, sold for $1.3 million, $1.25 million, $900,000 and $700,000 between noon and 2pm at the weekend.

The sites, which are among the last remaining beachfront sites in the area, were sold from the Coast Papamoa Beach sales pavilion within the development and people had to line up outside by midday on Saturday in order to be able to make offers, a Coast spokesman said.

One couple even camped out overnight in front of the sales pavilion to get a ticket to get the right to buy a site, he said.

Sections in the wider subdivision started from $650,000 and were being sold by Harcourts on behalf of land owner Frasers Property.

So far, 145 sites have already been sold in the wider subdivision this year, ranging in price from $195,000 to $470,000 each. The 145 sites are off Coast Boulevard and are cheaper because they are not beachfront but across the road from the sites just sold, he said.

Papamoa Community Centre venue supervisor Sylvia Wilmshurst said Papamoa's growth was visible "on a daily basis".

She said parking was becoming a major issue for the area, as well as amenities being "pushed to the limits" because of the growth.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregec said the coastal Papamoa sections would be in hot demand, as it was a "highly desirable place for people to live".

"Who knows if this is good for the city? There's clearly a market for these kinds of properties.

"I don't see Papamoa's phenomenal growth stopping anytime soon. We had better get used to it."

Papamoa Plaza manager David Hill said the growth in Papamoa was "going crazy".

"The people are here. It's one of the fastest growing areas."

However, Mr Hill thought the increase in population was sustainable , due to the house builds and amenities and retail additions to the area.

He said foot traffic in the Papamoa Plaza doubled overnight when the food court officially opened on November 27.

Kranish Reddy, Frasers Property development manager, said Saturday's sales exceeded his expectations.

"We didn't know what to expect.

"Usually when you release land, the level of interest is about 25 per cent over weekends -- we've had over 50 per cent."

Of the seven sections which had not yet sold, he said four were in the process of having contracts looked at by potential buyers.

"It's a great result. Papamoa is just booming."

Mr Reddy said the beachfront property was highly sought after, which could have been why the sections sold at that rate.

Remaining undeveloped residential land along the Mount and Papamoa coastal strip
131 Maranui St - 10,600sq m
141 Maranui St - 9680sq m
331 Oceanbeach Rd - 1580sq m
451 Oceanbeach Rd - 820sq m
Source: Tauranga City Council

- Additional reporting from Anna Whyte