Queenstown.

Queenstown is a truly unique and special place to live, visit and play — and of course, to invest. Possibly one of the more famous small towns in the world, its position on Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables as a backdrop has built a destination brand that very few NZ markets can compete with. That brand is what drives the property market, and it’s why Queenstown rarely behaves like the rest of the country.

The market here is ideal for investors striving for a balanced investment portfolio, or those seeking a holiday home with rental income, dual-income property opportunities, or those simply prepared to play the long-term game. Queenstown is, first and foremost, a capital growth market. Yields are tighter than the rest of the South Island and you’re buying into demand, scarcity and a constrained supply of usable land rather than chasing weekly cashflow.

Tourism is the engine room. Accommodation and food services, arts and recreation, and the broader visitor economy underpin a constant flow of workers, seasonal staff and short-stay guests, which in turn underpins the rental market. Many investors have shifted properties into short-term holiday letting through the post-COVID rebound, which has kept long-term rental supply tight and pushed weekly rents to among the highest in the country.

The much-discussed COVID prediction of a Queenstown property decline has not eventuated and has left several so-called real estate experts very red-faced. Queenstown property values have continued to increase post-COVID, with international tourism back and domestic demand from Auckland and Wellington lifestyle buyers as strong as ever. The region keeps absorbing new stock as fast as developers can deliver it.

The region offers a wider range of investment types than most people assume: subdivisions and land banking on the fringes, apartments and serviced apartments in the central business district, new build townhouses through Frankton, Jacks Point and Hanley’s Farm, multi-income holdings, and bespoke holiday rental developments. Each comes with its own rules, body corporate considerations and short-stay-vs-long-stay trade-offs — getting that mix right is where most of the value is made or lost.

For long-game investors, Queenstown remains one of the most defensible capital growth bets in the country. The combination of an internationally recognisable destination brand, a hard ceiling on developable land, ongoing infrastructure investment around Frankton and the airport, and a steady pipeline of high-net-worth lifestyle buyers means downside is well supported. The key is buying the right asset in the right pocket of the basin — and that’s where on-the-ground knowledge earns its keep.