- A section of 90 Mile Beach dunes is for sale for $295,000, featuring power and sewerage.
- Agent Carla Yates highlights its popularity with Northland buyers and historical significance from World War II.
- Currently, four properties are for sale in Waipapakauri, including a three-bedroom bach and a two-bedroom bach.
A slice of 90 Mile Beach’s famed dunes has been listed for sale for a "bargain" $295,000.
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The north-facing section on Rata Street, in Waipapakauri, is one of a handful of plots that come up for sale each year at the iconic Northland beach.
Although there is no permanent home on the site, it has power, a sewerage system, a water tank, and a flushing toilet.
Raine & Horne Kaitaia agent Carla Yates said the owners, who live further down the beach at Ahipara, had wanted to build a home on the site, but their plans changed, and they were now selling up.
The property lacks a house but has a toilet, water tank, and a compliant sewerage system. Photo / Supplied
Yates has pitched the property as a "beachfront bargain" and told OneRoof that potential buyers could look forward to catching 25lb snapper and gathering tuatua on their doorstep.
She said that properties on that particular stretch of the beach were popular with Northland buyers, and noted that residents include former National MP and Kaitaia mayor John Carter.
Yates said the lure of Waipapakauri was its proximity to Kaitaia, Lake Ngatu, and the white sand beaches on the east coast.
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For history buffs, Waipapakauri was a centre of World War II subterfuge. New Zealand’s Public Works Department built a top-secret airfield for the RNZAF in Waipapakauri. Old photos show the RNZAF’s No. 18 Squadron Kittyhawks at the highly fortified airfield in 1944. The airfield also sported life-size wooden decoy Lockheed Hudson bombers, which were secretly photographed by one of the workers at the time.
The airfield was one of New Zealand’s first lines of defence against a highly anticipated Japanese air attack. The wooden planes, prefabricated in a joinery factory near Onehunga, were subterfuges. Yates said the airfield was no longer there, but the army barracks remained.
Yates’s grandfather was also based at the secret military installation. “I was brought up in this area. My grandfather couldn't go to war because of his eyesight, and he was based in that place. They thought the Japanese were coming to invade us, but they didn’t quite make it.”
Also up for grabs in the area is a four-bedroom luxury beach home at 53 Reef View Road, in Ahipara. Photo / Supplied
Currently there are four properties for sale in Waipapakauri, which is unheard of, said Yates. “There’s almost always nothing for sale here. All of a sudden, there are four.”
The other listings include a three-bedroom bach on a 1067sqm site at 15 Hinau Street; a two-bedroom bach at 496 West Coast Road, which has an asking price of $375,000; and a 675sqm section for sale for $250,000-plus at 6 Rata Street.
Although there is a smattering of baches along 90 Mile Beach, the largest number of holiday homes are at the very southern tip of the beach at Ahipara and Karirikura.
Yates recently sold a six-bedroom apartment block on Reef View Road, in Ahipara, for $1.25m and has a four-bedroom luxury home overlooking the water for sale by negotiation at 53 Reef View Road. The property has an RV of $1.33m.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in the Far North
