Bruce Morris sifts through the statistics to pinpoint the North Island's most expensive streets... and others of more humble heritage.
If you want to test theories on the value of location in property, there's a simple exercise that will provide instant answers.
First, ring a Rotorua real estate agency and say you've got a house on the main road at Ruatahuna for sale; then dial a Herne Bay realtor and explain you want to sell your Cremorne St home... and compare the responses.
Even when listings are low and sales are miserable, it would be tough finding an agent who would take on the challenge of trying to sell a property in depressed and distant Ruatahuna. Ninety-minute drive for an inspection or open home anyone? Happy with a commission barely able to cover the monthly grocery bill (assuming the house sells, of course)?
Forget it.
But Cremorne St - well, now we're talking. This is rich people's land and rich commission territory. No matter how tough the property market, there's not an agent in Auckland who wouldn't go a round or two with David Tua to score a listing in this street.
Old State Highway 38 at Ruatahuna and Cremorne St, Herne Bay, are as far apart as you can get on the national real estate ladder. The only thing the two streets have in common is the number of houses - 11 in each.
The median rating valuation for the Urewera "street" 112km south-east of Rotorua is $16,000 a property; in Cremorne St, running down to the inner-Waitemata Harbour in one of Auckland's most exclusive suburbs, the median is $5.6 million.
The Herne Bay enclave, given its name from its 19th-century position alongside the London-inspired Cremorne Gardens, tops the list of the North Island's (and, almost certainly, New Zealand's) most expensive streets when median valuation data is used.
Poor Old State Highway 38 - where, if they existed, more than 400 houses would need to be sold to buy just one in the flash Auckland suburb - sits rock-bottom on the list of streets that are down on their luck.
Interestingly enough, leading local agent Simon Damerell from Ray White Ponsonby didn't pick Cremorne St in his top three when asked what street from his patch came in at number one.
But that was because we neglected to explain how the data - prepared by QV and drawn from www.qv.co.nz - was assembled. Once he realised the list used median rating valuations - an advantage in small streets where all properties are uniformly high in value - he zeroed in on his target.
His initial instincts were to go for Marine Pde, Bella Vista Rd and Argyle St, where values of individual homes may be higher but the price range is wider, pulling down the median.
The appeal of Cremorne and these other streets? Simple, really - it's all about quality and location on northern slopes in a relative sanctuary five minutes to Queen St. Properties here are on 650sq m and more of land, often with harbour views and sprouting lovely old two-storey Victorian or Edwardian homes that spread over 400sq m of living space.
Down in Ruatoria, it's a different world. The houses are modest and most land is Maori-owed and that brings its complications, though a freehold section or house occasionally comes up for sale.
But this is a part of the country where real estate agents have no interest. It's just too hard. People aren't queuing to come here. If you're a property owner who can't sell to someone else in the village, Old State Highway 38 is a dead end.
QUARTERLY CELLAR-DWELLERS
1 $30,000 (2009 CV: $49,000) - Georgetti St, Benneydale
2 $32,000 (2009 CV: $40,000) - Liberton Pl, Tokoroa
3= $45,000 (2009 CV: $67,000) - Ettrick Pl, Tokoroa
$45,000 (2007 CV: $45,000) - Puriri St, Murupara
$45,000 (2009 CV: $46,000) - Kapunu St, Manaia
6 $47,000 (2008 CV: $66,000) - Toia St, Marton
7= $50,000 (2009 CV: $53,000) - Hadfield St, Patea
$50,000 (2009 CV: $40,000) - Terou St, Manaia
9 $54,000 (2007 CV: $45,000) - Tawa St, Murupara
10 $55,000 (2008 CV: $116,000) - Taitua St, Taumarunui
QUARTERLY HIGH-FLYERS
1 $8.048m (2008 CV: $7.61m) - Cremorne St, Herne Bay
2 $4.225m (2008 CV: $3.63m) - Selwyn Ave, Mission Bay
3 $3.88m (2009 CV: $3.15m) - Homewood Ave, Karori
4 $3.509m (2008 CV: $2.24m) - Arney Rd, Remuera
5 $3.5m (2008 CV: $2.45m) - Karori Cres, Orakei
6 $2.72m (2008 CV: $2.15m) - Shelly Beach Rd, St Marys Bay
7 $2.707 (2007 CV: $2.09m) - Brightside Rd, Stanmore Bay
8= $2.6m (2007 CV: $2.97m) - Kohu St Orewa
$2.6m (2008 CV: $2.4m) - Okahu St, Orakei
10 $2.565m (2008 CV: $1.73m) - Golf Rd, Epsom
* Lists feature the top 10 and bottom 10 sales by value in the North Island in the quarter to March 31, 2010. Source: QV. "Non-market" sales, such as mortgagee sales, sales within families and transfers to family trusts, are not included.
PAVED WITH GOLD - Median property values of our expensive streets
NORTH ISLAND
1 Cremorne St (Herne Bay) $5.6m
2 Audrey Rd (Takapuna) $4.05m
3 Karori Cres (Orakei) $3.7m
4 Gibbons Rd (Takapuna) $3.55m
5 Minnehaha Ave (Takapuna) $3.35m
6 Brett Ave (Takapuna) $3.3m
7 Cliff Rd (St Heliers) $3.16m
8 Westbury Cres (Remuera) $3.05m
9 Darwin Lane (Remuera) $3.045m
10 Bella Vista (Herne Bay) $2.95m
RODNEY
1 The Esplanade (Manly) $2.7m
2 Parry Crt (Omaha) $1.962m
3 Kotare Pl (Sandspit) $1.8m
4 Puriri Pl (Sandspit) $1.835m
5 Goodland Dr (Dairy Flat) $1.75m
NORTH SHORE
1 Audrey Rd (Takapuna) $4.05m
2 Gibbons Rd (Takapuna) $3.55m
3 Minnehaha Ave (Takapuna) $3.35m
4 Brett Ave (Takapuna) $3.33m
5 O'Neills Ave (Takapuna) $2.7m
AUCKLAND
1 Cremorne St (Herne Bay) $5.6m
2 Karori Cres (Orakei) $3.7m
3 Cliff Rd (St Heliers) $3.16m
4 Westbury Cres (Remuera) $3.05m
5 Darwin Ln (Remuera) $3.045m
WAITAKERE
1 Courtneys (West Harbour) $1.297m
2 Marine Pde South (Piha) $1.2m
3 Mansion Crt (West Harbour) $1.175m
4 Onemana Way (Te Atatu Peninsula) $1.125m
5 Herrings Cove Pl (Titirangi) $1.1m
MANUKAU
1 The Parade (Bucklands Beach) $1.575m
2 Quedly Crt (Eastern Beach) $1.5m
3 Arkley Ave (Farm Cove) $1.487m
4 Burford Pl (Mellons Bay) $1.375m
5 Compass Point Way (Half Moon Bay) $1.25m
WHANGAREI
1 Highland Lass Pl (Langs Beach) $1.175m
2 Gazelle Way (Langs Beach) $1.152m
3 Cove Rd (Langs Beach) $1.062
4 Ewen St (Ngunguru) $1.025m
5 Hector Lang Drive (Langs Beach) $990,000
HAMILTON
1 River Oaks Pl (Pukete) $1.15m
2 Kotahi Ave (Beerescourt) $1.122m
3 Clifton Rd (Hamilton Central) $850,000
4 Lake Cres (Hamilton Lake) $815,000
5 Lake Domain Dr (Frankton) $795,000
TAURANGA
1 Marine Pde (Mt Maunganui) $1.88m
2 The Mall (Mt Maunganui) $1.695m
3 Motiti Rd (Papamoa Beach) $1.482m
4 Strange Grv (Matua) $1.276m
5 Taylor Rd (Papamoa Beach) $1.225m
ROTORUA
1 Ronald Rd (Lake Tarawera) $1.09m
2 Waitangi Rd (Lake Tarawera) $1.087m
3 Calder Rd (Lake Okareka) $1.075m
4 Acacia Rd (Lake Okareka) $1.06m
5 Okawa Bay Rd (Tikitere) $1.02m
BRINGING UP THE REAR - Median property values of our least expensive streets
NORTH ISLAND
1 Old State Highway 38 (Ruatahuna) $16,000
2 Galatea Rd (Waiohau) $42,000
3 Ruatoki Valley (Ruatoki) $45,000
4 Ruatoki Valley Rd (Ruatoki) $49,000
5 Georgetti St (Benneydale) $50,000
6 Tawa St (Murupara) $51,000
7 Mohaka Township Rd (Mohaka) $52,000
8 Ellis Rd (Benneydale) $52,500
9 Puriri (Murupara) $54,000
10 Tui St (Te Teko) $55,000
* Statistics show the most expensive streets in the various North Island centres - along with the North Island's three cheapest streets. Values given are present median rating valuations, reflecting values at the time they were set. Rodney and Waitakere values were set in 2007; Auckland, North Shore, Manukau and Rotorua in 2008; and Whangarei, Hamilton, and Tauranga in 2009.
* From the New Zealand Herald's quarterly 'Property Report' - a guide to house prices and great places to live.
