Papakura

By ROBYN WELSH

City dwellers seeking a quieter life and those wanting to cut down travelling time to their Coromandel beach houses are among buyers looking to settle in the Papakura area.

Popular for its small-town community feel, Papakura township services a rural and semi-rural area, with lifestyle blocks (under 1ha to more than 10ha) priced from $300,000.

In Papakura township, there have been changes to the traditional housing market, with home-and-finance packages tempting first-home buyers into slightly more expensive new homes in the $180,000 to $200,000 range.

As a result, older, modest homes in the $100,000 to $150,000 range are becoming harder to sell.

The median house price in Papakura is about $205,000, with most properties, including older homes on full sites and townhouses in sought-after areas such as Pahurehure, selling in the $165,000 to $250,000 bracket. Red Hills is a popular second and third-home buyers' area, with properties up to $300,000.