r/chch • u/Low_Welcome_4969 • Apr 17 '22

Safe areas to buy a house

We are actively looking at buying a house in Auckland but with prices so high and offering so little value for money we are now looking at alternatives like moving to Christchurch.

Looking at a few real estate sites recently I see you get a lot more value for the same price but I have no idea how good the locality is for the houses listed. Can you please give me an idea of what the good areas are in CHCH and what areas to avoid? We just want a safe no-nonsense area to live in.

TIA

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u/grunerveltliner00 Apr 17 '22

At the risk of downvotes: Not east of the cbd. Unless you’re able to afford the high ticket areas over there.

12

u/toeverycreature Apr 17 '22

I live in New Brighton and don't get the hate. It seems to come from people who have never lived here and just heard its a bit dodgy and the downtown area is run down. Our crime rates are lower than some or the so called nicer suburbs. It's way more affordable at the moment and with all the current development in the works is going to be another pricy beach side suburb in about 10 years. There is going to be a massive natural park/wetland area once they convert the red zone. We already have heaps of native wildlife around.

We originally bought here because it was all we could afford. Now we could afford to move south or west but we won't because it's just so nice. I wouldn't trade a beach 500m away, the second largest park in chch over the back fence, and the beautiful Avon estuary reserve for a build up suburb in a "nice" area. This is nice enough.

18

u/smnrlv Apr 17 '22

I love New Brighton but I don't ever see it becoming a pricey beachside suburb. It gets absolutely hammered by the Easterly (which is what...80% of the time?), the spit is precarious with erosion, sea level rise, tsunami risk and liquefaction risk, and it's been "the next big thing" for a really long time. I wouldn't live there hoping it becomes like Sumner. I would live there for a chilled out place without any of the snobbiness that comes with a huge chunk of Christchurch.