The city’s cheapest street

Margaret Trezise, describing some of the locals as Hell’s Angels members.

However, even with the presence of some rougher characters Trezise was happy to call it home for the foreseeable future.

She had moved into the area 17 years ago when her retirement was looming, finding the single-bedroom unit perfect for her needs. “It’s quiet . . . not far from the shopping mall.”

At the time Trezise bought the humble 1960s unit for $85,000 it had an RV of $140,000.

Its 2017 RV was $470,000, more than four times the street’s median RV of $103,000 — a fact which seemed of little interest to the retiree who had already paid off her mortgage.

It hadn’t dawned on her that in terms of assets she could be one of the “wealthier” residents on the street, shrugging off the RV as an inconsequential number that “fluctuates a lot”. CoreLogic data showed the apartments’ RVs were as low as $88,000 and hit the ceiling at $110,000. Of the larger residential properties, the RV ranged from $470,000 to $790,000, though few looked worth the land they sat on. mall yards, overgrown grass and old clothes and furniture littered the lawns of the cluster of bungalows and Watch video from the street at nzherald.co.nz

Sunits. Windows gave few signs of life, blocked by tired curtains, most of which were drawn closed against the sunlight, and in at least one commercial building steel bars were lining the glass pane.

“I hate the place,” said Brian Cheffings, the 62-year-old owner of one commercial building on Westward Ho Rd.

Its proximity to the shops was the only good thing he had to say about it.

Just around the corner, off West Coast Rd, was Kelston Shopping Mall, with its cluster of franchise stores; Tank, McDonald’s, Subway, Countdown and the usual banks, pharmacies and a petrol station.

Cheffings bought the white commercial unit, one of the newer-looking buildings on the street, back in 2008 for $225,000 — just $10,000 above its then-RV.

Today the property, which he had made his home, was valued at $310,000.

Like the others on his street, Cheffings couldn’t care less about his new valuation, describing the paperwork informing him of his property’s latest valuation as “pages of crap”.