Invest in New Zealand

Property Market

Residential:

Apartments are mainly in big cities like Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. Condos/Apartments are a fairly recent trend in NZ. Historically, 98 % of the population lived in single family residence. Condos/Apartments are usually high end in their exterior and interior finishes and are usually in very popular parts of town. Single family homes still dominate the residential sector.

New Zealand’s population is a very mobile one. Most people move several times during their life. Thus, the number of property transfers is very high compared to New Zealand’s sparse population. The NZ national median house price was approx. NZ $ 330 000 in february 2009. The median house price in Auckland was approx. NZE $ 422.000 at the beginning of 2009.

Rural:

Farms represent an active market. Some changed in recent years from traditional dairy or cattle farms to vineyards. This is in great parts due to the increasing popularity of New Zealand wines all over the world and an explosion of the vine industry since 1996. Another new trend that has reached rural New Zealand are so called lifestyle blocks (see explanation below). In September 2004, the average sales price for a farm was NZ $ 780 000. In february 2009, the average price was NZ $ 1 262 000.

Lifestyle blocks, are big sections of land, often a couple of acres, bought by people who do want the rural life, but with all the comfort and convenience of city life. Lifestyle block owner’s usually have big estates on their properties, ideally with a couple of horses or sheep for pleasure. The average price for a ifestye bock was NZ $ 410 000 in february 2009.

Commercial:

There are three main classes of commercial property: Offices, Retail and Industrial

Overall, the commercial property sector is growing fast, as a lot of commercial investors look around for opportunities. Many overseas investors (in particular pension funds) are keen to secure a slice of the New Zealand market.
Generally, yields are higher than in the residential market (from 6 to 11 %). Other investments that do not fit these three classes are objects like the following: hotels, motels, backpackers etc.. and medical or childcare centres.

In addition, buildings can have a mixed use (offices with a retail section).