Glenfield

Including Wairau Park, The Palms and Unsworth Heights

Developed through the 1960s and 1970s, Glenfield has shaken off its old image as a boring, unsophisticated nappy valley for young families.

Those who move into Glenfield tend to stay or trade up within the area. They're showing their confidence by investing in start-up businesses or keeping that first home as an investment. People moving here are more likely to be second home buyers.

Newer housing developments are attracting professionals from within and from outside Glenfield.

There's huge choice in Glenfield, from the traditional group houses with their rectangular design and aluminium joinery/Hardiplank construction to new developments such as the Manuka Cove terrace houses and Treeview.

The group houses, built street by cul-de-sac street in the 1960s and 70s, have come back into favour.

There are larger executive homes in Unsworth Heights and The Palms. Glendhu Rd has an almost rural feel, in contrast to busy Glenfield Rd.

Amenities Glenfield College is the main state high school here. It was one of the first secondary schools to attract fee-paying international students and it has a strong pastoral emphasis to its curriculum.

For single-sex education, the secondary boys and girls high schools at Westlake are the closest, but it's important to check the latest zones. This area is well-served with primary schools including a special school. Glenfield shoppers can choose between the many little suburban blocks of shops, the mall or the Link Drive retail area at Wairau Park. The Westfield mall is the largest on the North Shore. Its family destination style includes 114 shops, department stores, a food hall, cafes and Foodtown and Countdown supermarkets.

Glenfield has many small parks and a coastal walkway as well as the nearby East Coast Bays beaches. The walkway around the Manuka Reserve has had an upgrade - there's a boat ramp and a children's playground.

The Glenfield Leisure Centre is popular for its indoor heated pools, hydroslides, diving boards, saunas and spas. The North Shore Events Centre is also in Glenfield.

Wairau Park has a cinema complex, cafes and bowling alley. The Glenfield Tavern is a quaint watering hole opposite the Glenfield mall.

Trends

Glenfield went through a negative patch when buyers turned their attention to Albany's townhouses, but that appears to have dissipated. The influx of Asian buyers into Unsworth Heights and The Palms has eased off, as it has elsewhere in Auckland.

Executive homes in the upmarket Glendhu/Daldy's Lane average $520,000, compared with $305,000 for a three-bedroom house elsewhere.

Rental and investment Investor interest is strong in Glenfield because the yields are better than the more highly priced areas of the Shore. Local people are reinvesting in their own patch.

Best streets High and Glendhu Rd, Calypso Way, The Palms and Westminster Gardens, Unsworth Heights.