Robyn Dormer has opened a bookshop in Ruawai after moving up from Devonport and can understand why the town has had the largest property valuation rise in the Kaipara.
Dorothy Simpson isn't surprised that the tiny Kaipara town of Ruawai is on the up, with the "little slice of paradise" offering so much to keep people happy.
And Dorothy and husband Jim should know. They live on Simpson Rd, Ruawai, one of the thoroughfares hewn from the land by Jim's ancestors.
He was born and grew up there while Dorothy is from nearby Paparoa, and really, her only surprise is that it's taken the rest of the world so long to catch up with Ruawai's delights.
The rateable value of properties in the Kaipara has shot up by almost a quarter in the past three years, with the district now worth more than $10 billion, with Ruawai the fastest growing, with the town's valuation up 76 per cent.
The Ruawai-Matakohe areas has a population of around 2500.
All Kaipara property owners will receive a Notice of Rating Valuation in the post with an updated rating value for their property.
The new rating valuations have been prepared for 15,794 properties on behalf of the Kaipara District Council by Quotable Value (QV). They show the total rateable value for the district is now $10,786,318,000 with the land value of those properties now valued at $6,091,456,000.
In 2017, the total rateable value for the district was $8,644,972,000 and the land value was $5,032,569,000 - meaning rises of 24 per cent and 21.04 per cent respectively.
Rating valuations are usually carried out on all New Zealand properties every three years to help local councils set rates for the following three-year period. They reflect the likely selling price of a property at the effective revaluation date, which was September 1, 2020, and do not include chattels.
On average, the increase in residential land value across the district is 17.5 per cent. The value of residential housing has increased 24.2 per cent since 2017, with the average house value now sitting at $625,600, while the corresponding average land value increased by 24.4 per cent to an average of $297,000.
Kaipara mayor Jason Smith said the west of the district, Ruawai, Dargaville, Arapohue, etc were all up by more than the average and were in effect playing catch up.
''The east of the district, such as Mangawhai, have been going up for a number of years, while the west hasn't. Now it's catching up and really taking off.'' he said.
Smith said Kaipara has many advantages that make it attractive, with its proximity to Auckland seeing many Aucklanders selling up and moving to the district.
''And Ruawai is taking off. We've got a great lifestyle in the Kaipara, with a great harbour, wonderful countryside and scenery and so many attractions, and the tide is finally coming in for the west of the district.
''One of the real stories is the average house valuation, which is not $625,000 - that's astonishing from what it was just a few years ago. The whole of the Kaipara is now being seen as a great place to live, do business and raise families.''
That's something Dorothy Simpson knows too well and she's happy that others are now seeing it about Ruawai too.
''It's just a great place to live because we are away from all the traffic and hectic pace. It's a great little community that really cares and on top of it all we've got the marvellous Northern Wairoa River,'' she said.
"We've got all the amenities you really need - a bowls club, Lions Club, two great schools, wonderful countryside, it's great for dairy farming and there's just so much to do. We grow amazing kumara and have pretty good weather - though sometimes we could do with a bit more rain - and Dargaville is close enough if you need anything. And you don't have to wait for a carpark at the supermarket.
''Really it's just such a wonderful place to be and Kaipara Harbour has great fishing, diving and boating etc and it really just has so much going for it, it's a little slice of paradise. And we have a great little book shop.''
Given that, does she worry that it may get spoilt with an influx of people?
''Oh no. It's great to have new people in. It brings more diversity and new ideas.''
The only problem was that increased values could mean that locals could not afford to buy or rent in the area.
One of those that has made the move from Auckland to Ruawai is Books @ Ruawai owner Robyn Dormer. She came to live in Ruawai about six years while also running her book shop in Devonport. But after she and other shops on Devonport Wharf were told they had to go, she moved the store to Ruawai - and she hasn't looked back.
Dormer said her store is thriving, with plenty of local customers, but also a large online customer base, which was possible due to the internet.
''It's still an old school town where people know and care about each other and it's really nice and quiet, but with plenty to do.''
She said the river and coastal lifestyle was superb and she fully understood why the town was now taking off.
''It was a completely intuitive decision for me (to move there). It just felt so right when I came and now the book shop is just going crazy. We've got 50-60,000 books and just this morning I've had seven email orders from overseas to fill, so you can live here and still do business around the world - it's wonderful.''
The move west has also had benefits for Ruawai's two schools. At the start of this term Ruawai College had 161 students, 146 more than the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Education. Ruawai Primary School has seen its roll go from 113 to 127.
While the valuation rise won't impact the total amount of rates Kaipara District Council collects, it will effect the proportion each ratepayer forks out.
If the land value of a property has gone up by more than the average (17.5 per cent), then the proportion of the general rates the property owner pay may go up. If the property's value has increased by less than the average, then the proportion may go down.
If the land value of a property has increased, that doesn't mean rates will go up by that level of the increase
QV valuer Liz Jones said the demand for residential housing was buoyant across the Kaipara region, with most townships in the district seeing increases of between 15-40 per cent overall. Demand for sections has also been strong, and as a result land values have increased 24.4 per cent for the district overall.
"There have been significant value lifts across the entire residential market since 2017 with values still rising strongly. Lower value properties have seen the most competition from buyers and has resulted in the greatest value increases. Demand from buyers coming from outside the region has helped fuel the market. This demand extends to holiday homes, where we are still seeing increases for waterfront properties," Jones said.
Meanwhile, commercial property CV values have increased by an average of 19 per cent, and property values in the industrial sector have increased by 17.6 per cent. Commercial and industrial land values have also increased by 22.7 per cent and 40.4 per cent respectively.
"In Dargaville, there is some demand from buyers for good quality properties with favourable leases in place although there are a lot of older buildings requiring maintenance. In Mangawhai, this demand is higher with a more buoyant retail market.
'You don’t want to be doom and gloom your whole life. That's just a miserable way to live'