My Home Patch: Koreans charmed by Shore

Sharon Nam and daughter Christine at their family house in Mairangi Bay. Picture / Greg Bowker

The closeness and quality of the local schools drew Sharon Nam and her husband, Stephen, to Mairangi Bay. "We like it first of all because we have primary and intermediate schools and colleges very close."

And the beach?

"Oh yes, we go to the beach too."

The Nams, who moved from Pusan, the second-biggest city in Korea in 1990, have four children plus Sharon's mother living in this modest Lockwood home.

They rented on the Shore for nine years, moving from Forrest Hill, to Murrays Bay to Albany before finally settling in Mairangi Bay in June.

"We knew we liked it here," says Nam. "It's a really nice neighbourhood, close to schools, beaches, things like that."

The five-bedroomed house, on a tiny infill section, down a long narrow drive, cost $548,000. A slice of sea flashes greeny blue from the first floor deck, the house is 35 years old and the kitchen looks original. Nam is obviously delighted with it.

Husband Stephen is a pastor with the Hanouri (Presbyterian) Korean Church based at the parish church in Glenfield, so there was the need to be close to his 1200 (including children) Korean church community.

The church complex, in View Rd near Wairau, where he is based, is large, modern and spacious. There's a hall, dining room, kitchen offices and school rooms for Sunday school as well as a place of worship. "Nothing like a traditional church with wooden pews."

Nam explains that New Zealand Koreans gravitate towards the North Shore for the same reasons as her and Stephen: good schools; a choice of two universities, Auckland and Massey's North Shore campus; a safe, pleasant, environment. They are not put off by the high-density, infill housing that is anathema to established North Shore families, and do not crave the bright lights of the city either.

Their social life is modest by New Zealand standards: dinner at friends' houses; the odd restaurant meal on special occasions; walks on the beach.

Do you mind the neighbours' house overlooking your deck?

"No problem," says Nam who has met most of her neighbours and likes them all. "It's a wonderful place."

Nam is 47. Her eldest daughter, Christine, who is 21, sits in on the conversation, interpreting when necessary. She is studying law and politics at Auckland University, works hard and expects to stay here with her parents until she marries.

During the term she catches the bus from the corner of the street, across the bridge to Auckland University. The trip from door to door, takes 45 minutes. She has also enrolled at summer school.

Their second daughter, Stacey, 19, is also at university, studying politics and English. Paul, 14, is at Rangitoto College and Gracey, 10, at Murrays Bay Primary, a 10-minute walk up the road. "She walks on her own, it's a really safe place around here."

Nam shops at the local Mairangi Bay supermarket about three minutes away by car. Despite the affluence, like many of her neighbours, Nam also travels to the Pak 'N Save at Glenfield or Albany "because it's cheaper".

The family is also pleased with the three-level house. "Actually it's the best I've lived in because there are a lot of storeys," says Nam.

Downstairs are the children's bedrooms and rumpus where they watch TV, practise the violin, cello, piano, while Paul hammers away on a rubber pad in lieu of his drums.

The middle level contains the kitchen, dining and living rooms, plus another bedroom. Sharon and her husband sleep in the upstairs mezzanine.

"We like this style, we don't like the modern house, that's why we choose this one."

Although she tried, even taking an English language course in Auckland, Nam's English is not good enough for her to teach here. Anyway, she explains, life as a pastor's wife is busy.

She makes the 10-minute drive to church around three times a week for services and prayer meetings, counsels parishioners who need help and visits the sick.

Which is where her mother comes in. "I was a high school teacher in Korea," she explains.

"My mother came to help care for my family. In the old days [in Korean society] mothers [used to] live with eldest son, but nowadays they stay with daughters because wives work."


Loves and hates

Likes
* Schools and universities
* Established community, older homes
* Safe environment
*Neighbours

Hates
* Nothing

 

Golden beaches of the north

Mairangi Bay sits midway between Takapuna and Long Bay along the scalloped series of golden beaches that make up the North Shore in the sought-after Rangitoto College zone. The sleepy little village is rapidly changing as house prices climb and residents demand local restaurants and smart shops. The old Woolworths supermarket recently reopened as a classier Foodtown. Houses with sea views often go for $1 million plus, while those on the beach are $2 million or more.

The biggest problem on the North Shore is a Harbour Bridge which can no longer handle the volume of traffic plus the lack of a decent public transport system (no trains or designated bus route, few ferries).

Despite the bridge clip-on lanes and movable median barriers, peak hour traffic crawls along the main arterial routes as well as the motorway and bridge itself.

The Shore has always been predominantly white, and attractive to Asian groups looking for the decile 8 schools which flourish here.


Who lives where?

* Fastest growing: Albany, includes Greenhithe, Paremoremo, Brookfield, Rosedale and North Harbour.

Attracts: Affluent lifestylers, semi-retired people, students, those who can afford the local private schools, Kristin or Pinehurst.

$500k buys: Newish 4-bedroom house in Albany; a new 3-bedroom townhouse in Greenhithe.

* Best buying: Beach Haven/Birkdale

Attracts: Smart buyers wanting a foot on the property ladder and a serene setting - and who don't mind driving way up-harbour to get it. This is one of the last places you can buy waterfront for $700,000.

$500k buys: 3-bedroom house on full site with sea views.

* Rising fast: Belmont/Bayswater, includes Narrow Neck.

Attracts: Those who can't afford Takapuna or Devonport and are willing to put up with fiendishly busy Lake Rd.

$500k buys: 3-bedroom renovated ex-state house.

* Secure, detached: Devonport, includes Stanley Bay, Stanley Point, Cheltenham and Vauxhall.

Attracts: A magnet for creative types, young professionals, bohemians and refugees from Ponsonby. Big drawback: Lake Rd.

$500k buys: Two-thirds of a standard 3-bedroom house.

* On the way up: Glenfield, includes Wairau Park, The Palms and Unsworth Heights.

Attracts: First and second home buyers, self-employed tradespeople.

$500k buys: New 4-bedroom house.

* Can do commuter belt: Hibiscus Coast, includes Whangaparaoa, Orewa, Silverdale, Red Beach and Gulf Harbour.

Attracts: Professionals escaping the rat race; genuine (80-plus) and junior (60ish) retirees; families making a life in the area; and hardy commuters who can take the hour-long plus drive or 50-minute ferry service from Gulf Harbour (5 trips every weekday).

$500k buys: 3-bedroom older house or townhouse.

* Affordable beachside: Lower East Coast Bays, includes Castor, Campbells, Mairangi, Murrays, Rothesay Bays.

Attracts: Sporty, white professionals, Asians, South Africans.

$500k buys: 3-bedroom house (but you'll pay double for a view).

* Best kept secret: Northcote/Birkenhead, includes Chatswood and Hillcrest.

Attracts: People willing to just duck over the bridge and no more, walkers, professionals, creative types.

$500k buys: Standard 3-4 bedroom house without sea views.

* Our own, classier, Gold Coast: Takapuna, includes Milford and Hauraki.

Attracts: White, wealthy, all-year-round shorts wearers.

$500k buys: 3-bedroom house back from the beach, a fraction of anything near the sea.

* Smart coastal buying: Upper East Coast Bays, includes Browns Bay, Waiake, Torbay, Pinehill, Long Bay, Glenvar, Northcross and Okura.

Attracts: Families trading drive time for seaside living, retirees trading down.

$500k buys: Half a house close to the water.

* Well picked over: Warkworth, includes Matakana, Leigh, Snells Beach and Omaha.

Attracts: Families looking for relaxed village life, city retirees.

$500k buys: 4-bedroom executive house (Warkworth); 3-bedrooms back from Omaha Beach.

* Affordable stepping stone: Westlake, includes Sunnynook, Forrest Hill, Crown Hill.

Attracts: Families lured from Glenfield by the scent of the sea and Westlake high schools.

$500k buys: Large, modern home (with a mortgage of $150,000).

* Additional research from Where to Live in Auckland