This waterside property, with the green roof, at Ōmāpere, in the Hokianga Harbour, is for sale.
This waterside property, with the green roof, at Ōmāpere, in the Hokianga Harbour, is for sale.
People dreaming of buying a beachfront Northland property overlooking the golden sands of a sheltered harbour will be looking at a property for sale in the laid-back coastal settlement of Ōmāpere, in the Hokianga.
A stylish single-level three-bedroom home in the town is on the market – with its current owners believing the next owners will be like themselves … Aucklanders who have enjoyed living and holidaying in an area renowned for being “New Zealand the way it used to be a generation ago”.
Ōmāpere is a small settlement with a mix of permanent residents’ dwellings and unpretentious holiday homes … all in a laid-back environment where life runs on ‘cruise mode’.
Owners Shayne and Lisa Thompson bought the idyllic setting two years before the Covid-enforced regional lockdowns. During that intervening period, the beachfront dwelling was substantially modernised, meaning it was a perfect get-away option for relocating out of Auckland when the city was shut off to the rest of New Zealand.
The home was modernised and transformed to feature new bathrooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen, energy-efficient LED lighting, a new roof, and expansive window sliders showcasing the breathtaking views over the harbour to the famous Hokianga sand dunes across the water on the horizon.
“While we originally bought the property as a holiday home, including the flexibility to let it on Airbnb, it was a fantastic location to spend much of the Covid-lockdown in a work-from-home mode,” Shayne Thompson, a former professional entertainer and now sales trainer, said.
Shayne and Lisa Thompson have put their idyllic Hokianga Harbour bach up for sale and are moving to Australia.
“Since then, over the past three years, we’ve seen more and more people adopting a similar work-from-home approach – spending more time at their Hokianga homes and taking advantage of the freedom and efficiencies which high-speed internet and teams meetings can deliver.
“That means I get to spend more time fishing,” the avid fisher said.
He has numerous tales about launching his dinghy off the back lawn directly out into the harbour to catch his quota of snapper – all while Lisa has enjoyed reading books and watching his reel-winding activities from the comfort of their home’s expansive deck. While sipping on a vino’ on the deck, Lisa has also seen orca and dolphins regularly playing in the harbour.
“Where else could you find a fully modernised home with a beach off the back lawn for roughly the same price as an average house in Auckland?” Shayne said.
The beachfront home also has a separate sleepout for teenagers or guests – or for use as a work-from-home office – as well as a detached large lock-up garage. A designer solar-powered outdoor shower allows swimmers to wash down al-fresco style.
However, with Covid restrictions now a thing of the past, and with their children grown up and no longer living at home, the empty-nesters are selling up and moving to Australia.
Sitting on a 898-square metre flat freehold section gently sloping toward the beach from the home’s deck area, the property is being marketed for sale at auction on February 14 through Bayleys Kerikeri.
Salesman David Baguley said that rarely did absolute waterfront properties come up for sale in Ōmāpere or Ōpononi – with most residences sitting on the other side of the road, or nestled into the hillsides.
Mike Dinsdale is the editor of the Northland Age who also covers general news for the Advocate. He has worked in Northland for almost 34 years and loves the region.
