OK - house prices in Wellington? We sold our 3 bedroom house on 670m2 section in Paparangi (the hill between Johnsonville and Newlands in the Northern suburbs) for $395k in May. It was an unexpectedly high price to be fair - the agent didn't expect it to go for more than $385k (it was on the market for BBO $375k!!) but at the time there was very little around in the 'first time buyers' market so we were quite lucky. It was a pretty up together house - not particularly huge (about 90m2 I think but for 2 of us it was fine) but we'd put a new kitchen in and done a bit of renovation. It had polished wood floors and tidy bathroom, and fantastic sun and quite sheltered from the wind (VERY important in Welly!!) and we had a lot of interest so that's a good starting point for you.
Paparangi/Johnsonville is about a 30 - 40 minute drive into town in rush hour (the motorway gets really busy) or 10 mins outside rush hour. The train takes 20 mins so is a pretty good option for peak times (and i think it was like $3 each way or less if you get a multi-ticket card).
Johnsonville has a great little hub - 2 supermarkets, 2 bars, a little mall with clothes/DVD/book shops etc and food court. They're talking of putting another level on the mall so will get more facilities in the future too. Johnsonville itself has some good areas, as does Churtomn park (houses here are newer and a tad more expensive - probably startijng around $450k upwards for 3/4 bedrooms I'd guess.
Newlands (which is the other side of the hill to Johnsonville) is a mixed area. It's not rough, but there are some fantastic areas and some stunning views over the harbour (but these houses generally face south and get slammed by the southerly - not great in Welly as you'll learn!) then there are some cheaper areas and you get what you pay for.
Newlands College serves pretty much all these suburbs I think, but there's also a couple of schools in J'Ville and Onslow College in Khandallah (about 5 mins closer to town - quite an expensive suburb with nice housing and views) i think is supposed to be qiute good... sorry - we haven't got kids so only going frm what I've heard about the schools :o)
Anyway, thats all for now - any more questions about the Northern suburbs then give me a shout. We live there for 3 years so have a reasonable experience of the area!
Cheers,
Jod
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