'Gold dust': One of the Mount's last beachfront sections sells

Three of the four vacant lots in Mount Maunganui have sold. Photo / Supplied

One of the last remaining vacant beachfront sections in Mount Maunganui has sold.

Tauranga company TYBI Limited bought the vacant 1583sq m block of land at ' target='_blank'>313 Oceanbeach Rd in July last year with plans to develop the land into four subdivided sections and onsell them.

Three of the four lots have since sold, including the beachfront lot, which real estate agents believe to be one of the last available.

Bayleys Mount Maunganui agents Janelle and Kay Ganley have marketed the four lots since the section went on the market in June 2019.

Janelle Ganley said the beachfront lot, the lot behind the beachfront lot and the roadside lot had all sold.

The asking price for Lot 4 on the beachfront was $2.7 million. The final sale price could not be disclosed due to privacy reasons.

"There has been a lot of inquiry and interest from families and a mix of Auckland and local buyers," she said.

Ganley said she knew of only one other vacant site that was not for sale.

Bayleys Mount Maunganui agent Janelle Ganley. Photo / Andrew Warner

Simon Anderson, managing director of Realty Group which operates Eves and Bayleys, said the interest for this site was not surprising given how unique it was.

"It comes down to that desirability of the area. Most of the sales are for existing property but some people want to build their own home and this gives them the rare opportunity to be able to do that and in Mount Maunganui."

Bayleys Mount Maunganui agent Kay Ganley. Photo / Supplied

Tauranga City Council environmental planning manager Daniel Smith said there were 139 vacant lots left in Mount Maunganui, based on existing vacant lots with a rating valuation.

Council's manager of transaction services Jim Taylor said the sections ranged in size from 216sq m to 2623sq m.

Taylor said there was one vacant section on Marine Pde and 31 sections on both sides of Oceanbeach Rd.

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said Oceanbeach Rd has been in hot demand among property hunters, with some of the houses fetching premium prices.

"While the majority of houses on the street are apartments or units the ones buyers really show their wallets for are large beachfront sections, those are gold dust," he said.

"Everyone wants to be down by the beach."

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell said in the past year there had only been a handful of sections for sale on Oceanbeach Rd.

"With a median price for sections around the $1m mark, this just shows how popular Mount Maunganui continues to be."

Norwell said now Lot 4 at 313 Oceanbeach Rd had been sold, she believed property on the same street would be "even more tightly held than before".

"While technically this might be the end-of-an-era in terms of building a dream beachfront property at the Mount, the reality is there is still plenty of opportunity for buyers to remodel existing properties to not only add value but to create a property that suits them, and their family's holiday needs for years to come."

Meanwhile, another beachfront property on Oceanbeach Rd has been placed on the market for the first time in 70 years.

The property, which now has a CV of more than $5.2m, was originally bought for £200 by local siblings John and Phil Bateman in the late 1940s.

Marketed by Bayleys Mount Maunganui agent Sharon Hall, the 1548sq m site at 223 Oceanbeach Rd is one of the last remaining houses with frontage to both Oceanbeach Rd and Mount Maunganui beach.