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a name you can trust! Thursday, May 19, 2016
Vol 45, No 19
General 271 8000 Classified 271 8055 Delivery Enquiries 271 8014 Website www.times.co.nz
Median house prices broach $1m mark
lucky escape: The woman driving this car somehow escaped unhurt from this accident on Point View Drive.
Photo supplied Rees Sutcliffe
Car fells power pole By Marianne Kelly
A
car lost control and hit a power pole on the last corner of the windy semirural Point View Drive before reaching the straight leading to Chapel Road. Police and fire crews were called to remove the pole which fell on the car on Monday morning. However the female driver escaped unhurt. Anne Sutcliffe, who lives just
down the road from the corner, has seen it all too many times before. “We’ve never counted, but so many vehicles have lost control on this corner over the years,” she says. “We’ve tried to talk to the council about it but all we get are cosmetic things such as signs reducing the speed limit. “They need to alter the road. “I see so many of these accidents and I often wonder if it is the people coming up the hill
that are causing them, especially those driving those really big cars. Big vehicles, she says, often straddle the double line going up the hill and, because the road is so narrow, the oncoming vehicles swerve coming down and off the tarmac. Mrs Sutcliffe is also astounded at the number of people who tried to push their way through, in vehicles and on foot, despite flashing lights and cones across
the road, especially considering the power lines were down. “Drivers and pedestrians should always exercise extra care around power lines, especially when so many emergency vehicles were flashing their lights. “They should never attempt to go through unless indicated to continue. “We had vehicles here with lights flashing but people still tried to get through.”
The Eastern Beaches median residential dwelling price reached a heady $1 million in April, according to latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures. It climbed 20 per cent to $1.05 million compared with $873,000 in April last year. And pressure being exerted by Aucklanders looking to purchase in other regions is starting to show. The ‘Halo Effect’ is showing up for the first time in regions such as Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Canterbury/Westland and Otago, while regions such as Waikato/ Bay of Plenty and Wellington continue to be influenced by the phenomenon. Colleen Milne, REINZ chief executive says the biggest lever that can be pulled to reduce the pressure on house prices is to create more housing supply. “Our current monthly data shows a chronic lack of supply, not just in Auckland, but increasingly across the regions. More properties are selling than are being listed.” ■■ Eastern Beaches includes Beachlands, Botany Downs, Bucklands Beach, Cockle Bay, Dannemora, East Tamaki Heights, Eastern Beach, Edgewater, Farm Cove, Half Moon Bay, Highland Park, Howick, Lloyd Elsmore Park, Maraetai Beach, Mellons Bay, Northpark, Pakuranga, Shelly Park, Sunnyhills and Whitford. ■■ See full story in Our Homes Today, page 16 ■■ See Auckland Mayor Len Brown’s reaction to the exodus from the Super City in search of cheaper prices in the regions, page 5
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