Queenstown Real Estate News Point to Decision Making Time

Date: 14th October 2013 by Tim Medland

From the outsider’s point of view it would be easy to assume that the bulk of Queenstown Real estate sales are driven by wealthy visitors, eager to secure a piece of this mountain paradise for their own holidays or as a holyday rental investment. Not so…The big picture is increasingly showing signs that property sales are driven by population growth in Queenstown, which is still the fastest in the country, as it has been for several years.

In an August update published by stuff.co.nz, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Queenstown spokesman Kelvin Collins states that “It’s been steady growth over the last couple of years. It’s still relatively balanced, neither favouring vendors nor buyers.” In other words, thanks to high demand from people wanting to settle in Queenstown, the town has not suffered the drop in demand and the declining property values that are common to tourist resorts on the back of a recession.

To further support the view that the most active part of the market is from prospective residents participating in Queenstown’s population growth, the article adds that “Harcourts’ Highland Estate Group 2013 outlook published last month says the Queenstown market during the first six months of the year was characterised by an increase in buyers for homes between $550,000 and $650,000.”

We have discussed this point in our article on Queenstown Real Estate statistics for August 2013, and pointed out a sizeable drop in the median sale price for that month, down to $420,000 from $525,000 the previous month.

Further news is that banks are making moves to position themselves following a clear message last week from the Reserve Bank that interest rates were going to be on the move in the next couple of years and likely to reach a 2% increase or more. The underlying message is that it is a good idea to fix now to avoid hefty rises in the next few months. This could boost eagerness for first home buyers to secure a home before the predicted rates increases hit.

Meanwhile in other news in May this year this article in Queenstownproperty.com reveals that “A new agreement announced this month, which means global airline Emirates can now list Queenstown as one of its destinations, was very exciting for the resort’s tourism industry, Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd said.”

What does that mean for prospective buyers of Queenstown Real Estate? As population continues to grow and pushes demand upwards, and as Queenstown further opens up to the world as a resort with new flights shortening the time and distance to get there, you can expect demand for property to remain strong. Add to this that it is still time to catch the tail end of the low interest rates period, and then you could say it’s decision time!

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