Massey

By LUCY RICHMOND

A glance at the local community rag reveals that Massey is one of the few remaining areas of Auckland with affordable real estate.

Glossing over the story about the recent changes to the bus route by the Auckland Regional Council that have got the suburb's commuters up in arms, it's one of west Auckland's more accessible suburbs from the north western motorway.

Massey North claims its own identity, thanks to the Westgate Shopping Centre, which is its focal point. With a Countdown supermarket, pharmacy, post office, medical centre, Paper Plus, The Warehouse, Farmers, a Robert Harris coffee shop, a mean sushi bar and a cinema complex among the offerings, it's ideally located for Massey residents and the surrounding suburbs.

The sprawling suburb is home to a broad mix of first-home buyers, long-term residents, renters and young families. Massey North (or Westgate) includes Fletcher homes at the Rush Creek development and the Stonegate development close to the Westgate Shopping Centre. Some of the more upmarket properties are to be found in Massey East's Royal Heights, where the homes look across the water to Te Atatu.

In fact, it's a dream come true for the first-home buyer, who can pore over the real estate pages that are packed with reasonably priced properties, in Auckland terms. For example, Barfoot & Thompson says $169,000 will buy you a well-presented, three-bedroom home with spacious living areas and two toilets, Harcourts has a home with good-sized living areas on a fully fenced section for $179,000, and First National invites buyers in the $185,000 to $195,000 bracket to check out a sunny, three-bedroom pad on a 700sq m section with development potential.

Families, too, are attracted by the affordable property price-tags, a selection of primary schools and Massey High School. Harcourts is talking $265,000 for a three-bedroom home on an elevated site with double garaging and views to the harbour bridge, and $379,000 for a four-bedroom executive home with spacious open-plan living, a modern kitchen and an internal-access double garage.

"Upwards of $300,000 will get you a modern home with three bedrooms plus a study and two bathrooms on a 500sq m to 600sq m section," says Wayne Hutton, principal officer at LJ Hooker, Henderson, who says Massey house prices have experienced "15 percent to 20 percent growth" in the past 12 months, in line with other west Auckland suburbs.

"Massey offers a wide range of lifestyle factors. It's 10 minutes from the countryside, the west coast beaches are easily accessible from it, and as well as the Westgate shops, it's close to the West City mall in Henderson."