Bay areas all in throes of development

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 53

Bay areas all in throes of development

One of Christchurch’s more gracious real estate trends is quietly unfolding out on the Peninsula area. .Implacably residential in its thrust the ongoing development of the myriad bays naturally fails to draw the same media scrutiny given to multi-million dollar commercial developments. The rapidly increasing interest in real estate firmly out of the city is also difficult to establish parameters for. A geographically precise dissection of Banks Peninsula proper would have to include Sumner. Sumner is an interesting example in that it also provides pointers toward probable trends in other bay areas now just experiencing the first flush of robust buyer interest. Some real estate agents have begun to refer to Scarborough hill area in particular as the “Riviera of Australasia.” The catalyst for this dash of hyperbole is the combination of million dollar views and prices close to this figure property on the hill is drawing. In the rest of Sumner it is becoming an extremely difficult

task to locate more than a couple of older homes that have not undergone some level of gentrification. Property prices continue to glide ever upward and the consensus is the peak has not yet been reached. Over the hill in Lyttelton the discovery process is also discernibly picking up pace. Victorian and Edwardian homes in particular are highly sought after while the recent official approval for the upgrading of the main business area will provide a much more gracious heart for the township. The accelerating realisation of the market value of nostalgia is also reflected in the impending refit of the local real estate agent, (J. D. Bundy, Ltd, MREINZ), premises back to the appearance of the building when first built in the 1870 s. The “popularisation” process seems to have been telescoped into a much tighter timeframe in Lyttelton. The journey from drab seaport to desirable area in public perception has taken just a decade. The population mix in the area

still runs the gamut from blue to white collar, a situation that does not prevail further round the bays in Governor’s Bay, Church Bay and to an extent Diamond Harbour. Here the bulk of the new construction is definitely upper middle class to robustly rich in nature.

Over in Akaroa the trend is also noticeable. A tad too distant for all but the most devout commuter the area finds favour with artisans, retirees and people with the surplus cash for holiday homes. Both Akaroa and its neighbouring bays are all undergoing a rapid period of development.