Hawkes Bay.

Hawkes Bay is made up of several individual areas, each with their own diverse and interesting traits. Located on the east coast of the North Island, the region spans from Mahia in the north through to Porangahau in the south, covering 1.42 million hectares and 350km of Pacific Ocean coastline. The twin cities of Napier and Hastings sit at its heart, with Havelock North a short drive away.

The region’s economy centres on the Bay itself, supporting the Napier port and a healthy fishing industry. Wine production, fruit growing and tourism are prominent economic sectors, sitting alongside a long heritage of sheep and beef farming. The Port of Napier is a major export and transport hub on the East Coast, handling apples, logs and wine bound for international markets.

Wine lovers can thank the insight of the missionaries who planted the region’s first vines in the 19th century — Hawkes Bay now produces some of the best wine in the country, widely admired overseas. The food and wine scene has flowed through into tourism, with cellar doors, farmers’ markets and the Art Deco architecture of Napier all pulling visitors year round.

For investors, the twin-city structure matters. Napier leans coastal and tourism-driven, with a stronger Art Deco / lifestyle premium in pockets like Ahuriri and Marewa. Hastings is more workforce-focused, with the horticulture and packhouse industries shaping rental demand in suburbs like Mahora, Camberley and Flaxmere. Havelock North sits at the premium end of the lifestyle market.

The rebuild and resilience work following Cyclone Gabrielle continues to shape the region. Infrastructure spend, primary-sector reinvestment and tight rental supply have kept the rental market firm, even as sale prices have softened from their 2021 peak. For buyers with patience, the current cycle offers entry points that weren’t available eighteen months ago.

Hawkes Bay rewards investors who understand the difference between the suburbs. A street in Taradale and a street in Flaxmere are very different propositions — same region, very different tenant profiles, very different yield-vs-growth trade-offs. That’s where having someone on the ground earns its keep.