THREE Even the locals wonder at the sense of building a new house on a beach that is eroding every year, but Mark and Pip Pennington are up for it. Summer holiday-makers dreaming of buying their own waterfront property will have to be ready to spend big bucks, new data shows. Waterfront homes tend to come with a hefty price premium and properties in New Zealand’s summer hot spots command some of the largest, according to Homes.co.nz. The iconic beachside town of Mount Maunganui tops the premium list. Homes.co.nz estimated that the median value of properties within 50 metres of the ocean was over $2.3 million, which was almost 150 per cent above the town’s median of $923,462.