VERY MUCH on the up and up is how you could best describe this once low-profile part of the city. Its previously hidden qualities have now been brought more centre-stage as people discover the safe family lifestyle, sea views, affordable housing and even a spruced-up village-style shopping centre. Sitting along the southern edge of the Manukau Harbour, 11 kilometres to the southwest of the CBD. By day you can watch the ships and seabirds coming and going; by night the lights of Glenbrook Steel Mill sparkle on the southern horizon as a city alternative to a starry night. On the city side of Blockhouse Bay, some streets get a view of the Sky Tower. Lynfield is on a quiet point of land further up the harbour, which means there is no through traffic. The name Blockhouse Bay refers to fortifications built to protect early European settlers from Maori attacks.
Who Lives There?
Good, solid family-oriented New Zealanders are the traditional residents, with a mix of ages and stages including retirees who like the nice flat walk to the shops. It’s more cosmopolitan now, home to a mix of nationalities, including Fijian Indians and Asian immigrants with an increasing population of Indians from the Asian subcontinent. Once popular with first-home buyers and investors, property value increases have skewed towards young families (there are many good schools) and those with slighter higher mortgage-paying capabilities. Many owner-occupiers are in the 30-plus age group and
consider Blockhouse Bay a good stepping stone to trade up to suburbs closer to the city.
Lynfield College’s strong reputation attracts education-conscious migrants who also see the district as a good starting point in the Auckland housing market.
Typical Homes
The most common houses in this area are weatherboard bungalows built 30 - 40 years ago. There is some terrace housing and also some state housing at the southern end of Blockhouse Bay. Infill housing is common, typically with an older bungalow on the front section, and a 10 or 20- year-old house at the rear. New houses and apartments are still being built demonstrating developers’ and
investors’ continued confidence in the area including a new subdivision off Taylors Rd that has been popular with migrants trading up to their second homes in a better part of the area.
That was Blockhouse Bay in brief.
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