Waterfront house last of the line in Paihia

By CLAIRE TREVETT

The last private home on Paihia's once-sleepy waterfront has sold after Barbara Goodhue decided she could not keep up with the rates.

Mrs Goodhue, 86, yesterday sold the home she has lived in for 26 years for $1,620,000, after spirited bidding from six would-be buyers.

It was the end of an era for Paihia, once a small village with just a few motels along its waterfront strip, Marsden Point Rd, to cater for passing travellers.

Now the central waterfront, from School Rd at its southern end to the bluff between Paihia and Waitangi Beach, is crowded with motels, restaurants and apartment blocks.

Mrs Goodhue's house, a three-bedroom Lockwood with a self-contained flat, was the last private residence on the strip.

The second-to-last private residence sold about three years ago.

That old house was taken away and an apartment block is now being built.

When Mrs Goodhue and her late husband, Louis, moved to Paihia in 1978, it was just a small town.

"We've got a photo of the area then that shows there were no other houses around us. Now I'm hemmed in, with people on each side."

The Goodhues built their own motel, the Averill Court, and five years after they arrived an autolodge went up on one side and a small motel on the other.

As tourism developed, the entire area changed dramatically.

With the popularity came an increase in property values, and rates rises that Mrs Goodhue decided she could not keep up with.

"I'm only an old-age pensioner and the rates have got beyond me.

"I was paying such terribly big rates. I mailed off the last lot of rates I will hopefully have to pay and they were $4000 a year.

"The water rates are on top of that. They said they were going to go up again this year, so I had the feeling that perhaps it was time I moved on."

Mrs Goodhue could not remember what the rates were when she first moved there, but they "were minor compared to now".

About three years ago after the last lot of valuations, her rates went up by $1000 and they have risen steadily since.

She would not say how much she and her husband bought the house for in 1978.

It was valued at $510,000 in the last round of valuations, in 2001.

Paihia waterfront properties sold recently have fetched more than $1 million.

Bayleys Northstyle real estate agent Malcolm Finlayson said there was avid interest in Mrs Goodhue's property from developers, investors and "wealthy Aucklanders".

"It's the growth in tourism, really. There has been a real upsurge across the country and the Bay of Islands has become really popular.

"There has also been a big lift in real estate prices everywhere over the last 18 months, but here it is accentuated because of the tourism.

"This little town is really moving.

"This was the last chance to get into that area really, without buying a building as well," Mr Finlayson said.

Mrs Goodhue hopes to keep living in the area, where in her younger days she was able to indulge her passion for bowls and the big-game fishing that brought her a world record.

The once-keen sportswoman now settles for playing bridge competitively.