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MORE and more New Zealand families and retired couples are escaping from the suburbs and city living to new beach-side developments.
Along the popular Mt Maunganui - Papamoa coastal strip apartment blocks by the score, some as high as 10-levels, now house the thousands who have come from throughout New Zealand and many parts of the world, for the environment and lifestyle the region offers.
In the last few years these developments have crowded even the humble house as developers scramble for the highly-valued land that lies between the ocean and harbour.
Marketers, with their Internet messages, their glossy promotional brochures and hard sell, have labelled the area that lies between Adams Ave and Banks and Salisbury Aves, the Golden Triangle.
Says John Friis, special projects manager for Harcourts:
"Some land values have increased 1000 per cent in the last three years and for those who have got a piece of the action, that's money in the bank."
He reckons about 80 per cent of those who buy into the larger apartment developments are seeking capital gain and income from rentals, a return on their investment of perhaps 8 per cent.
The remainder want simply to live in one of the most attractive areas in the country, with its beaches, mountain, thermal hot pools, bowling clubs, golf courses, fishing trips and boating of all types.
The larger projects offer such facilities as heated swimming pools, gymnasiums, sauna and tennis courts. Security systems and covered parking are also available and furniture packages are an option.
Many apartments have panoramic views.
Nearby is the $4 million re-developed Phoenix shopping centre with its excellent shops and vibrant cafe culture.
Prices in the five-unit Ocean Breeze apartment block range from $340,000 to $400,000. All units are at least 200 sq m and have three bedrooms. A lift services the three floors.
Developer Trevor Beer, of Cambridge paid $300,000 six years ago for the land that Ocean Breeze stands on. Today the land would cost $600,000 which, Mr Beer says, would make a similar development too expensive for most people.
Prices for units in apartment complexes vary from $169,000 for a studio to a top price of $1.4 million for a penthouse in Elysian Gardens, which overlooks Mt Drury and the ocean beach.
Real Estate Centre's Ross Innes, who lives in the 10-floor Twin Towers, is marketing a number of properties. These include the just-started Calais, which has one-bedroom units from $160,000 to $180,000, two-bedroom from $300,000 to $340,000 and three-bedroom from $300,000 to $550,000. All are fully furnished.
Apartments compete with the traditional motel for visitor accommodation and their units are generally dearer because they offer a "complete house." Apartments range from $130 a night in the off-season to $350 in the high season, depending on size. At Twin Towers, for example, off-season prices are $250 to $300 per night and $300 to $350 in summer.
The boom in apartments has helped push the population of the Mt Maunganui-Papamoa area from 24,700 at the 1996 census to an estimated 29,100. This almost 18 per cent increase is about twice the rate for the rest of the Tauranga District Council area.