Cheap money is having an impact. When investing outside of Auckland there are areas showing some sustained activity.
James Wilson of Valocity Valuations Share his thoughts
Hamilton
Hamilton has performed good in the last property cycle, into a sort of a plateauing period. Now, though, we’re seeing it performing well. Genuine population growth could be a factor. The region is up 1.4% in the past six months
Growth is coming groups like first time buyers, movers that are relocating to the region. Yes we’ve seen investors down there but it’s not the predominant driver.
Whanganui
Whanganui, again, it’s been the jewel of the crown for quite a while now. It’s been fueled by some quite sustainable drivers. And one of those being first time buyers being really active. So they’re moving down there to buy a home for themselves and their family to actually live in the area.
Whanganui is still performing really well, the region down there is up 2.5% as a region.
Rotorua
If I compare that to somewhere like Rotorua which was really active amongst investors. A shock system has had more of an impact.
Since COVID, was negative for a time. It’s just come back to flat. So 0% now since COVID market closure.
Wellington
Wellington up 2.2% for the region. So performing really well. Again, why is it? Underline strength and population growth. Wellington obviously has strong employment prospects, with a big government sector down there.
Queenstown
So Queenstown has been hit the hardest by COVID-19 for a raft of obvious reasons. Obviously tourism being one of the biggest ones. So Queenstown still down 6.6%. And it’s probably the overall Otago region down by 2.4%, which of course also includes Dunedin. One thing to note though, is that the rate of decline in Queenstown at 6.6% has slowed.
Where would you buy?
A question put to James Wilson for his own preference had a surprising answer. “I’m going Auckland, fringe. So I’m going to all fringe locations, I quite like Hamilton. I think Hamilton’s got some growth and I think some good yield as well.
