An increase in the resident population is driving land and house prices up while available rental stock is all but drying up amid a tourism and construction boom in Queenstown.
Growth in tourist numbers has been phenomenal, and commercial development in Frankton flats, Remarkables Park and Glenda Dr is surging ahead and major infrastructure jobs are on the horizon.
Major residential construction jobs include the 700-home Shotover Country subdivision.
Colliers International estimate the vale of commercial construction in Queenstown this year is $250 million.
But the growth is squeezing the property market, driving sales and price increases and the number of available rental properties is dwindling.
A glance a TradeMe Property gives a good indication of the current market, with 449 properties for sale across the Queenstown Lakes district compared to a meagre 17 for rent.
Of the 17 for rent, only two are in the town centre of Queenstown.
On the residential front, seven new apartment complexes are in the pipeline and investor confidence in Queenstown is vying with Auckland as the most lucrative and buoyant New Zealand opportunity.
The latest market rent statistics from Tenancy Services are based on 613 bonds lodged for Wakatipu rental properties over the six months from December 2014 to May this year. One-bedroom flats and apartments are being rented at between $200 to $350 per week.
Two bedrooms flats and apartments ranged from a low of $241 to a high of $550, with three bedroom units going for as much as $630. Three-bedroom houses went for $450 to $580, while four bedroom homes started at $500 and topped out at $780 per week.
There seems to be no distinction between furnished, unfurnished and partly furnished properties.
Beth Chisholm, Property Manager at Ray White Queenstown has noticed a marked increase in demand in rentals over the past few years. Rental properties remain extremely scarce causing high demand. She says this can be seen in the sheer volume of enquiry for rental properties that become available.
Source: The Southland Times and Mountian Scene
July 2015
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