The woman, who did not want to be identified, turned on her lights and another neighbour who lived opposite her, ran across the road to tell her there may have been a home invasion.
Another resident told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend that his daughter heard a commotion around the time of the attack but was not aware of what was happening.
He said his daughter "heard a woman screaming 'help me, help me' and then it all went quiet".
Another neighbour also said he was woken up by a scream.
He said he thought he was dreaming.
"It was either a kid, or it was a woman, running down the street screaming. And then I heard a car engine just speed down the street."
Fifteen minutes later, he heard a couple of neighbours talking loudly outside.
He said it was not something you expect to happen in Waterford Park Drive. He was sleeping with his window open. "It's a quiet street."
Other people living in Waterford Park Drive that the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend spoke to said they did not hear anything, but saw police officers on the street when they left for work later in the morning.
Police were carrying out a scene examination of the house this morning.
Detective Sergeant Darryl Brazier said two armed men entered a house in Waterford Park Drive in Pāpāmoa about 4.30am and allegedly assaulted a man and woman.
Brazier said the men were wearing masks and stole two cars from the house. These were a black 2011 Holden Commodore and a 1998 silver BMW. The vehicles were found at a rural address near Pāpāmoa soon after.
The victims suffered minor injuries in the attack and did not require medical treatment.
However, both were "pretty traumatised" and were speaking with police, Brazier said.
He said until the scene examination was completed, he was unable to say whether anything else had been taken from the property.
"We have very little at this stage because the victims are still being interviewed, so really, we are looking for any witnesses that might have seen the cars, or other activity, this morning.
"We know these vehicles left the address in convoy. We're not sure where they went to from the address, at this stage."
Brazier asked anyone with information about the invasion to call police on (07) 577 4300 or anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.