Mount Maunganui house sells after 70 years with one family

A huge beachfront section in Tauranga's Mount Maunganui, which has been in the same family's hands for more than 70 years, has sold.

The 1548sq m site at 223 Oceanbeach Rd, which was originally bought by a local, John Bateman, for £200 in the late 1940s, had attracted strong interest from buyers who all had a connection to the popular suburb.

Bayleys Mt Maunganui agent Sharon Hall, who marketed the property, said the sale was an emotional one for the vendors, with a lot of family history tied up in it.

"It's a time of mixed emotions for the family," she said.

The original 1940s bach still sits on the site but a new luxury-style home was built next to it in the past 15 years, with the property boasting a rating valuation of $5.24 million.

Hall likened the property to a fine piece of art and said that during the campaign qualified buyers from the local area and the wider Waikato region had shown interest, with multiple tenders submitted.

Buyers all wanted the property to use as their main home or holiday home - not as a development project.

"The inquiries we had all had a connection to the Mount - either current or historic. The house was a rare opportunity to get a lifestyle they'd never get a chance at again."

Hall said at the start of the campaign that the original bach was built in 1949 by John Bateman for the sum of £55 and was preserved by successive generations of the Bateman family. In fact, the current owner's parents chose to leave it intact when building the larger family home at the front of the property.

"This has been a much-loved family holiday home," Hall said.

Oceanbeach Rd is one of Tauranga's most sought-after addresses, due to its proximity to the beach. Large sections on the strip don't come up for sale that often, but when they do they tend to fetch high prices.

Realty Group Ltd managing director Simon Anderson said since the country came out of lockdown in May demand for property in the region had increased.

"We've seen resurgence in Auckland buyers in the market. People with large cash reserves are looking to move that money into property.

"The Mount market is pretty unique. Those places come to the market rarely and when they do there is a lot of interest for them from local and outside buyers who usually have some sort of connection to the area."

Last month a "pink" beach house on a 1201sq m section at 265 Papamoa Beach Rd sold at auction for $3.15m - almost $1m above its rating valuation.

The property had not been on the market in close to 50 years and was one of the last undeveloped large-scale sections fronting Papamoa Beach.

Another family bach, 23a Oceanbeach Rd, which had been owned by the same family for about 40 years, sold at auction for $1.86m in June, and one of the last remaining vacant beachfront sections in Mount Maunganui, also on Oceanbeach Rd, sold.