Manukau/Clover Park - An exclusive extract

Including Flat Bush, Goodwood Heights, Wiri and Puhinui

Auckland is ethnically a diverse place, and you can see it all in these suburbs. Newer areas like Chapel Downs are attracting young families who want a contemporary home at a good price.

Totara Heights, with its views and leafy surroundings, appeals to a more affluent and generally older demographic.

The area appeals to Asian immigrants, too, with many moving here as renters and then buying in the area once they're established.

The standard Kiwi three-bedroom brick and tile house is everywhere, some meticulously maintained and some woefully neglected.

With smaller sections and less time spent at home, townhouses are becoming popular with developers and buyers. The majority of homes have been built as cheaply as possible.

But up at Manukau Heights and Totara Heights it's a different story, with many multi-storey houses, often surrounded by mature gardens or tucked into patches of native bush.

Manukau and Wiri have extensive areas of fibrolite-clad state housing which, generally, has not aged well.

Amenities
Hundreds of millions of dollars are to be spent on establishing schools in the Flat Bush area in the next decade and these will join the already healthy number of primary and intermediate schools.

Much of Manukau/Wiri/Puhinui is in the highly regarded Papatoetoe High School zone, and this has an impact on property prices. Others go to high schools in Manurewa or Otara.

Westfield Shoppingtown Manukau was one of the first shopping malls in Auckland and it continues to go from strength to strength.

There is a shopping centre at Chapel Downs, and you're not far from The Hub and Botany Town Centre.

New blocks of convenience shops, takeaways, greengrocers, video stores and bottle shops continue to spring up near each of the new residential areas.

The $40 million TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre includes a 700-seat theatre and a multi-purpose 3000-seat indoor arena. Hayman Park is a bonus for local families and for workers who want to take their lunch break outside.

If you're travelling by car, the world of leisure activities is your oyster in this area. Totara Park is a haven of leafy tracks through native bush, with pleasant picnic spots and playgrounds, and a beautiful swimming pool.

Some parts of the reserve are okay for mountain bikers.
Rainbow's End theme park entices families from all over Auckland, and is on the must-do list for many visitors to the city.

Trends
The property market is buoyant here, and people are paying good prices in the expectation that it will keep improving.

The arrival of Botany Downs further east has had a flow-on effect of improved image, and the promise of Flat Bush being a high-quality development is also beneficial.

Agents report that buyers are confident about the area's future value. One-bedroom apartments are rare, but can be picked up occasionally for around $230,000. A new three-bedroom townhouse in Flat Bush will cost between $340,000 and $380,000.

Best streets
For their elevation and views, Goodwood Dr in Goodwood Heights and Eugenia Rise in Totara Heights.