Westpac economists are predicting a surge in house building in the next two years, with larger firms that are less reliant on finance than some other developers getting involved in residential property development.
In a note today, Westpac chief economist Brendan O'Donovan and senior economist Dominick Stephens said they expected residential construction to grow 23 percent next year, with even more needed in 2012 to make inroads into a housing shortage in this country.
The 2008/09 recession had hammered the construction industry, with the number of houses built in 2009 half that of 2007, while the recession also boosted annual population growth to 1.3% from 0.9% as fewer New Zealanders crossed the Tasman, the Westpac economists said.
The result was a "housing squeeze", with the average number of people per house rising from 2.52 to 2.55 over 2009. That was only the third episode of squeeze since reliable data started in the 1960s.
The squeeze had not been eased by factors such as a rise in the rate of house building in the first half of 2010 - with building consent data suggesting a further acceleration in the second half - and a slowing of population growth as fewer foreigners immigrated to this country.
The number of people per house had been trending down for years, and comparing the number of people per house to the estimated trend suggested the country had a housing shortage of about 10,000 houses, the economists said.
"Historically, every time New Zealand has gotten into a housing shortage situation, the residential building industry has responded by ramping up production and eventually restoring balance. We expect this time will be no exception."
The Westpac economists disagreed with suggestions from some quarters that difficulty obtaining finance would prevent residential construction from picking up as it had after previous recessions.
Developers who relied on cheap finance had been forced to sell land, pushing the price of undeveloped residential sections down by 15% since 2008, they said.
Over the same period, house prices had remained unchanged, so the margin on offer for successful property development was now much wider than during the boom.
"There is a juicy profit opportunity on offer for larger firms that are less reliant on finance to get involved in residential property development. Which is precisely what we think will happen."
Conditions perfect for opening of winter festival
28th June 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Let the madness, hilarity and partying begin.
The 36th annual American Express Queenstown Winter Festival opened last night in the resort, with perfect conditions setting an incredible scene in the centre of town.
Pacific Blue's inaugural Brisbane-Queenstown service, which landed as scheduled at 3.35pm, bought 150 Queensland snow bunnies, and arrived just in time for the festival's opening.
Last night on the main stage at Earnslaw Park - which is this year floating on Lake Wakatipu - Invercargill-based band Pipeworkz warmed the crowd up with its inspirational and unique music.
Only in New Zealand would you find a band using bagpipes to accompany a Maori song - or for that matter April Sun in Cuba.
Prime Minister John Key was led on to the stage by Storm Troopers and Darth Vader, with the crowd encouraged to participate in the Imperial March.
Mr Key encouraged international visitors to come back to New Zealand in 2011 for the Rugby World Cup "where the All Blacks are going to win" and where "party central" would be in Auckland where there would be no snow and warmer temperatures.
After he declared the 2010 festival open, the Contact Energy Festival Flame was lit before a display of fireworks began over Lake Wakatipu, timed to an "Outer Space" music theme.
Last night's opening concluded with Arrowtown-based band The Lynch Mob performing "The Best of Pink Floyd", under the full moon.
A programme of events has been planned for the 10-day festival, with several new additions in the mix.
They include tomorrow night's charity boxing event, Thriller in the Chiller, the biggest fight night held in the Southern Lakes region.
Local men and women, who have been training for the past four months, will compete in the ring at the Queenstown Events Centre, where boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard will be in attendance.
One of the most popular festival events is Mardi Gras, which will be held at Earnslaw Park on Tuesday night, and is expected to attract a capacity crowd, due to one highly-anticipated act.
Australian-based band Dragon, comprising Todd Hunter, Mark Williams, Bruce Reid and Pete Drummond, which was inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame in 2008, will be the headline act for the not-to-be-missed outdoor party, which begins with a parade at 5pm.
Another new event for 2010 is the dodgeball championship, in which New Zealand professional surfer Maz Quinn will be competing.
The festival runs until July 4.
hoamz charity auction raises the roof
28th June 2010
In the middle of one of the most highly-anticipated events of the Queenstown Winterfestival 2010, hoamz joined forces with the Bruce Grant Youth Trust to raise more than $40,000 for the local charity. Auctioneer Brendan Quill sold a number of items under the hammer, including a Dan Kelly designed golden kiwi, a flight to Fiordland and the Ultimate Dinner Party - a 5 course meal for the lucky winning bidder and 12 friends, cooked by one of Queenstown's top chefs! The bidding was spirited, the bids generous and the atmosphere sizzled on what was one of the festivals hottest nights. Attended by legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, the Thriller in the Chiller featured nine bouts of boxing, pitting local against local in the sell-out event.
Queenstown Winter Festival Kicks Off Tomorrow
25th June 2010
Source: voxy.co.nz
Revellers keen to start early can get into the Festival spirit by helping "light the lights" at the new 'Parade of Lights' at 6pm tonight. After congregating at the top of the Mall, Mayor Clive Geddes will flick the switch and the crowd will walk down to Earnslaw Park with thousands of lights illuminating as they go. The parade finishes in Earnslaw Park where the crowd will get their first chance to see the new floating stage fully lit up for the first time.
Then at 6pm tomorrow night (25 June) the 36th annual Winter Festival gets underway in style at the free American Express Opening Party. Thousands of locals and visitors will come together on the shores of Lake Wakatipu to kick off 10 days of winter fun with a spectacular fireworks display, live music, mulled wine, and plenty of laughs.
Wakatipu High School's 'Rock Formation' will get the party started with a sizzling performance, followed by the much anticipated Pipeworkz, a Celtic, Maori and Pacific Island blend of musicians based in Invercargill who perform everything from Braveheart to Split Enz.
At 7pm, Prime Minister Hon Mr. John Key will officially declare the festival open and the skies will light up with a stunning fireworks display timed to an outer space theme which Festival Director Simon Green promises will be "a real crowd pleaser".
The official opening party wraps up with local favourites The Lynch Mob performing the best of Pink Floyd until 8.30pm.
Those in the mood for glitz, glamour and plenty of dancing can get glammed up, don a mask and celebrate winter Queenstown-style at the Moulin Rouge-themed Lindauer Masquerade Ball on Saturday 26 June.
The new Mountain Scene Thriller in the Chiller on Sunday 27 June at Queenstown Events Centre looks set to be a knockout with Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the world's best boxers of all time, making a special appearance.
There are plenty of free events downtown during the first weekend of the festival including the colourful Oaks Hotels & Resorts Festival Parade and Family Fun Day (Saturday 26 June) and the crazy MoreFm Day on the Bay featuring the infamous MoreFm Birdman, Jetsprints, Splash for Dash and H&J's Undy 500 (Sunday 27 June).
A four-night comedy extravaganza kicks off on Monday 28 June at the Memorial Hall with local and national comedians coming together for the new Canadian Club Comedy Gala, a hilarious standup show and live stage performance of the cult TV3 show "7 Days". The laughs continue on Tuesday and Wednesday (29 and 30 June) with Canadian Club Late Night Laughs at the new American Express Ice Box, a silked and chandeliered downtown temporary venue.
Downtown Queenstown will be buzzing on Tuesday 30 June as thousands of people take to the streets for the Air New Zealand Holidays Mardi Gras. There'll be food stalls, mulled wine, and a fantastic live music lineup from 5.30pm featuring The Cartel, the Ukulele Orchestra, London-based I Am Giant, and Kiwi rock legends Dragon who take the stage at 8.30pm.
Queenstown locals will be out in force to cheer on their favourite 'Queen' on Wednesday 30 June. The fiercely competitive and totally hilarious Q92 MoreFM Drag Race is an invitation-only high speed steeplechase race around Earnslaw Park where normally reserved local gentlemen let their hair down and flaunt their feminine side. The drag race starts at 2.00pm and is followed by the Dodgeball championship finals at 5pm.
Later that evening one of the world's most sought after tenors, internationally acclaimed 'singing policeman' Daniel Rodriguez, will wow crowds at the American Express Ice Box. The US star will perform alongside expat Kiwi songbirds Marla & Marissa in a one-night only performance of pop, musical theatre and light opera titled 'Pop to Pagliacci'.
Expect big thrills and skills at the Air New Zealand Holidays Invitational Rail Jam which brings the best of freestyle skiing and snowboarding to downtown Queenstown on Friday night (2 July). A star-studded lineup of 35 Kiwi skiers and snowboarders, including Nick Hyne and Jossi and Byron Wells, will pull out their best tricks for this spectacular showdown at Earnslaw Park.
There are plenty of magical events for the little ones like the Cookie Time Teddy Bears' Picnic on Sunday 4 July which features an afternoon of stories, fun and a special visit from Cookie Muncher, and the MoreFM Wild about Water Pool Party on Friday 2 July. Both will be held at the Queenstown Events Centre.
Festival hits a high note on Saturday 3 July as Sola Rosa, Eru Dangerspiel, LA Mitchell, Coast and Vanessa Kelly take to the stage for the hugely popular Lindauer Jazz Night, held in the spectacular setting of the Skyline's mountain-top complex.
There's plenty of on-mountain action throughout the week at Coronet Peak with the Tararua Skin to the Summit, the Speights Dog Derby, Budget Rent-A-Car Mountain Bikes on Snow, and the grabaseat Mountain Mayhem Day. The fun and games wrap up at the Jim Beam Closing Party celebrations on Sunday 4 July with Night Skiing kicking off at 4pm and Kiwi band dDub slope-side at 5pm.
The American Express Queenstown Winter Festival runs from 25 June to 4 July 2010. For more information or for a programme please phone 0800 FESTIVAL (03 441 2453) or visit the Festival website www.winterfestival.co.nz.
Fresh snow 'bonus' for planned events
24th June 2010
Souce: The Soutland Times
Delighted snow bunnies awoke to white heaven yesterday morning and a healthy fresh dump of snow on all four Southern Lakes ski areas.
Hardy types were quickly fitting chains to get to the slopes as the weather cleared and the sun peeked through late in the morning revealing 15cm of fresh powder at both Coronet Peak and the Remarkables.
NZ Ski chief executive James Coddington said the timely fall had set the ski areas up nicely for the school holidays, which start at the end of next week, and was a "great preview" to the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival.
Festival director Simon Green was rapt with the snow but even happier that clear, fine conditions were forecast until late Sunday or Monday with the festival launching from its downtown fireworks opening party on Friday night.
"The snow's great from a picture-postcard point of view, it really does sell the story, we couldn't get it any better," Mr Green said.
But the skifields had already been well set up with good snow, regardless of yesterday's dump, which was "just a really good bonus", he said.
Several festival planning details had been brought forward to avoid problems with the snow, and everything was going according to schedule.
Treble Cone ski area opens today with 15cm of fresh snow on the upper mountain and 5cm at the base. Some of that fresh snow had been wind-affected on the tops, spokesman Nigel Kerr said.
The "Air Bag", a huge landing bag, was expected to be a big drawcard this season – the first time it had been operated in New Zealand on snow, Mr Kerr said.
Cardrona ski area sales and marketing manager Nadia Ellis said they would open tomorrow with a "fantastic base" of at least 80cm on the upper mountain and 45cm on the lower slopes after receiving 15cm of fresh snow yesterday.
Geddes to end his tenure at the top
22nd June 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown Lakes mayor Clive Geddes will call it quits at the October local body elections after nine years at the helm of the fastest- growing district in the country.
Mr Geddes announced yesterday that "after some deliberation" he would not seek re-election this year.
"I have enjoyed every minute of being part of and representing this positive and energetic community and appreciate the constructive relationship I have shared with you all," he said in an email released to media.
Mr Geddes, 65, told The Southland Times that he had sat down with wife Sally and son Nick on Saturday and discussed their family priorities for the next three years.
"And the mayoralty did not fit into that," he said.
Mr Geddes, newly married just three years ago, , said he and his wife and family would like to enjoy some travel together. To do that he could not bring the 100 per cent commitment to the role that he had in the past nine years.
"I have no intentions of retiring – I can see a lot of opportunities in both the public and private sectors that I would like to take up."
Previously an asset manager for 10 or 11 years managing assets in New Zealand and overseas for offshore investors, Mr Geddes, who arrived in Queenstown in 1975, also managed real estate, tourist and hotel services for investors in Queenstown.
Before his election as mayor in 2001, taking the reins from former mayor and Cabinet minister Warren Cooper, Mr Geddes had been fresh from the business world, with no local government experience. He was chief executive of the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce at the time.
"I've enjoyed it all ... I've particularly enjoyed working with those people who have chosen to live and work in the small communities of the Queenstown Lakes District. They give enormous amounts of time and energy."
There had been some important choices about how the council chose to deliver its services, but it was pleasing to see how the options chosen by successive councils were now starting to work out.
"This is a very large district, it's not easy ... we've got more small communities than large ones, a very high national and international profile and I think it's important we all continue to have an ambition to deliver better than the best."
Mr Geddes said he would continue giving his best to representing the interests of the district "right up until the day I leave office".
High-profile councillor Vanessa Van Uden, who is serving her first term, announced late last month that she would enter the district mayoralty race. Her colleagues over the hill in Wanaka, Deputy Mayor John S Wilson and Cr Lyal Cocks, have not been so quick to announce their intentions. Both have said they were considering standing, but Cr Wilson said yesterday he was still undecided, although he had been waiting for Mr Geddes' decision.
"There's now no reason not to decide. It's a big challenge and I'm seriously considering it," Cr Wilson said.
Cr Cocks said he had been "working on it" and expected to make his announcement today.
Queenstown maintains clean, green reputation
21st June 2010
Souce: Otago Daily Times
Queenstown has the cleanest and greenest image of any tourist destination in New Zealand, according to Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt.
Mr Everitt was presenting the regional tourism organisation's business plan for the coming financial year to its members at a meeting in Queenstown last night.
He said the regional visitor monitor showed 97% of visitors to the resort believed Queenstown's environmental performance was greater than or equal to other places.
"That is by far the highest rating in New Zealand.
It's a very good situation to be in," he said.
Interest in the environment was growing among tourists and while Queenstown rated well, there was no room for complacency.
The organisation's goal for the coming year was to build "sustainable demand" for Queenstown through tourism marketing.
It would aim to build global demand through brand awareness and raising the resort's environmental profile.
"The vision for Queenstown is to position it as the premier four-season lake and alpine resort in the world. We are already the premier lake and alpine resort in the southern hemisphere - now we are going for global domination. It's certainly within our reach," he said.
The target was to raise the yearly visitor spending to $1 billion within five years, up from $8 million now.
He said the Australian and New Zealand markets were still important but as the global economy recovered from recession, DQ would begin marketing further afield to attract tourists from the northern hemisphere.
The organisation would aim to leverage more major events like the Rugby World Cup and Trenz to raise the resort's profile.
He said the organisation's number of staff was reducing from 12 to 11 so it would be "stretched" to achieve all its goals in the next 12 months.
DQ members also voted in favour of adopting a new constitution at the meeting.
Changes to the rules include the number of directors elected to the board, which will increase from five to six.
The board of directors will be made up of one representative from the council and the six elected directors; two to represent the accommodation sector, one activities, one the service and retail sectors and two from any interest group.
The directors have the ability to co-opt up to two further directors.
The changes are to come into effect after the annual meeting in September.
NZ housing market healthy: economist
16th June 2010
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
The residential property market in New Zealand is healthy despite a decline in the median house price in May, with a modest annual growth rate indicating that the Reserve Bank's interest rate strategy is working, an economist says.
The median residential property price eased in May to $NZ350,000 ($A283,458) from $NZ356,000 ($A288,317) in April, and was still 3.7 per cent ahead of a year earlier, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) said on Tuesday.
The figures showed no real reduction in residential property prices or the number of sales in May, despite pending tax changes and the anticipated move by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to raise interest rates as it did earlier this month, the institute said.
The 5206 residential property sales last month were only one fewer than in April, even though winter was usually a quieter period for the real estate market. The median number of days to sell rose to 43 from 40.
"The housing market is healthy and while prices are close to record highs, the modest annual rate of house price growth suggests the RBNZ's 'lower for longer' interest rate strategy has not created a speculative bubble," said TD Securities economist Roland Randall.
"In part, this is because New Zealand has recently been through recession and the unemployment rate spiked to 7.1 per cent.
"For now, New Zealanders are saving more and borrowing less," Mr Randall said.
The REINZ monthly housing price index fell by 1.4 per cent in May, with prices 5.1 per cent below their peak in November 2007.
The index, which basically is an average of sale prices for common groups, rose 0.7 per cent in the three months to May, and compared to a year earlier was up 2.3 per cent.
Tuesday's report follows QV figures last week which showed residential property prices 4.1 per cent below the market peak of late 2007, having been 3.9 per cent below the peak a month earlier.
QV indices showed values were 5.6 per cent above the same time last year, the first decline in the annual change since March 2009, having fallen back from the 6.1 per cent reported for April.
The market's reaction to tax changes in last month's government budget would not be obvious until July, Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Philip Borkin said.
"Nevertheless, we believe house price growth will continue to moderate over the remainder of this year and remain somewhat modest for the foreseeable future," he said.
Queenstown aims for $1 billion tourism spend by the year 2015
16th June 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown could receive a direct annual tourist spend of $1 billion a year within the next five years.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt unveiled the billion-dollar prediction at its special general meeting yesterday.
The resort received a yearly tourist spend of $800 million, and the goal of reaching $1 billion by 2015 was not out of reach, Mr Everitt said.
"We aim to be the southern hemisphere's premium four-season alpine destination, and global domination is within reach."
As a "rule of thumb" direct visitor spend could be multiplied by two to calculate a full economic benefit, he said.
"If we reach our goal of $1 billion in direct spend and have a full economic benefit of $2 billion per year by half way through the decade, Queenstown will be contributing two per cent of New Zealand's total GDP," he said.
Destination Queenstown aimed to build sustainable demand through innovative marketing, build global demand through increased awareness of the Queenstown brand, and continue to be a high-performing leader of Queenstown tourism.
Queenstown leads NZ tourism market
14th June 2010
Queenstown is leading New Zealand's tourism market with a massive 18 percent increase in hotel guest nights for the month of April.
Hoteliers said a burgeoning Australian market, a resurgence in conference bookings and easily accessible skifields were key drivers of the increase.
New Zealand-wide, guest nights were up 208,168 on April last year, a 13 percent increase. International visitor nights were up by 20 per cent and domestic visitor nights were up 1.8 percent.
Otago, Southland, Auckland and Canterbury were the only regions that contributed to the increase from April last year.Otago was up 30,000 guest nights, or 8 per cent, while Southland was up by 3000 guest nights, or 4 percent.
In Queenstown, hotel visitor nights – defined as one guest staying for one night – were up 18 percent.
Mercure Resort Queenstown general manager Paul Clark said demand for accommodation in the 148-room hotel was robust and it augured well for the winter season.
Many Australians booked early for a winter break, including repeat visitors impressed by the skifields, he said.
He said the business conference market was also recovering.
"We have a lot of return visitors. The Aussie market is fantastic," he said.
Novotel Queenstown Lakeside general manager Jim Moore said bookings at the 273-room hotel were increasing.
With more flights into the resort town, more holidaymakers needed accommodation, he said.
The Australian market was burgeoning but the European market was "delicate". Visitor numbers from India were increasing and there was potential to grow the China tourism market, he said.
The Rees Hotel and Apartments general manager Mark Rose said 70 percent of bookings for July and August were from Australian customers.
Many Aussies were repeat customers or first-time visitors and he expected winter business to increase by 20 percent on last year.
Mr Rose also said the UK market was struggling with unfavourable exchange rates but tourism operators remained "bullish."
Queenstown Hotel Association head John McIlwain said it was important to bear in mind Easter Weekend and the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka were in April, boosting visitor numbers.
Floating rates 'still better than fixed'
11th June 2010
Source: stuff.co.nz
Homeowners face higher interest rate costs but there is no reason to switch out of floating rates into fixed rates just yet, market commentators say.
Floating rates remain lower than fixed rates at this point and while they will inevitably shoot higher than fixed rates at some point in the future homeowners can continue to save money with the variable option.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced a 25 basis point increase in the official cash rate to 2.75 per cent, its first hike since July 2007.
A 0.25 percentage point increase in the floating mortgage rate on a $200,000 mortgage would increase interest costs by around $10 a week.
The change in the OCR is the first since the 50 basis point cut to the record low of 2.5 per cent in April 2009, with commentators saying that it is generally a good time to buy a house, particularly for a first-time owner.
While Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard has put up rates for the first time in nearly three years, he is in effect taking his foot off the accelerator in terms of a stimulatory setting for the economy.
That's the view of UBS New Zealand senior economist Robin Clements, who said floating rates had been most attractive in March 2009 when they were around 5.5 per cent, and probably cheaper than fixed rates at that time.
James Lockie, director of non-bank lender Cairns Lockie said it still made sense for mortgages to use a floating rate facility. "I think that the fixed rate is so far ahead of the floating rate that people should still stay short. My pick would be staying in the variable."
In terms of buying houses, the cost of building a new house was going up and would do so further with the GST increase. But that did not necessarily mean it was the best time to buy an older house, with the possibility for buyers to wait up to a year, Lockie said.
BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander said the number on floating mortgages had increased to 30 per cent according to a statement made by Bollard in February, from around 13 per cent in June 2008.
The chance to move back into good value, five-to-seven-year fixed rates had come and gone in March 2009, he said.
"Now you would not think about those [longer] terms at all. Now it's really just a question of do I float or do I fix out to three years – you [wouldn't] go beyond that."
Alexander added that until a month ago he had advised people to remain on a floating rate, whereas since then fixing for a shorter period had also become an option.
Cautious people could be advised to fix now, but those wanting to take a bet that rates would stay lower for longer could opt to stay floating. "That's probably where I would be sitting," Alexander said.
In terms of buying a house there was probably no point in hanging on at this point for a cheaper price ahead, given a shortage of new houses, he said.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said an "overwhelming" number of people had been moving to floating rates to enjoy lower borrowing costs.
From here floating rate and very short term fixed rates would, over time, start moving back up for mortgage holders.
"With what we anticipate happening with the cash rate and the likely direction of interest rates there's not a huge amount of difference in what we find in the next year or two between floating or going on to a fixed term."
Snow bringing visitor boom
10th June 2010
The Queenstown Airport Corporation is planning to fast-track $8 million of extensions to cope with increased pressure from trans-Tasman flights.
Corporation chief executive Steve Sanderson said yesterday six more international flights a week this winter was great for the airport, but the "sting in the tail" was that the airport needed significant capital expenditure to meet that growth.
Trans-Tasman flights will increase from 16 a week last winter to 22 this winter and additional trans-Tasman summer flights have also been announced.
The corporation was now looking at extending its baggage area and building another extension, which would triple the size of that area to 8000sqm.
Tenders would be called for that work soon and construction would occur this summer.
Extensions to the terminal's international arrivals hall would also be looked at this winter, with work starting during summer.
"Currently we're pretty limited to one full Boeing 737-Series 800 arriving at a time in the international hall. Now we have up to three in a one-hour period so it does start to put pressure on those facilities."
The corporation also had a capacity study under way looking at building a heavy taxiway down the side of the runway to relieve runway capacity pressures.
About 70 per cent of passengers arriving on the trans-Tasman flights were Australians, the rest other international visitors, usually from Europe, North American and Asia, visiting both destinations. Air New Zealand, Qantas and Pacific Blue had all indicated strong bookings for this winter, especially out of Brisbane, Mr Sanderson said.
Australian ski wholesalers reported another flurry of bookings during the past few weeks.
Anzcro Australia managing director Owen Eagles said bookings were up by more than 20 per cent this year.
"From our perspective it's excellent, we're up on last year, it's really encouraging and with snow falling there are still more to come." About 90 per cent of his company's New Zealand ski holiday clients came to Queenstown.
Ski Express national sales manager Melissa Watt said bookings slowed last month after "a massive booking pattern" earlier this year.
"But we're still seeing good bookings even now, which is good and that's unusual."
Ms Watt said some Australians might have been waiting to see what their Budget, released last month, brought before booking.
NZSki chief executive James Coddington said Australians had already flown over on impromptu ski holidays to hit the slopes at Coronet Peak, which opened on Saturday, after they heard about the good snow.
Rydges Hotel general manager John McIlwain said Australian ski holiday bookings had definitely picked up again during the last few weeks.
July and August were almost 10 per cent up on last year, which was a very strong season, and September was similar.
"There's a ton of snow up there at the moment, it's fantastic – I think that's what's made the Aussies look at booking because there's no snow in Australia at the moment."
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said the outlook was "quite positive", but businesses were waiting until "the money is in the bank" before they started celebrating.
Campus adds six full-time courses
10th June 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Enrolment numbers at the Southern Institute of Technology (Sit) Queenstown campus have tripled, prompting the tertiary education provider to add another six full-time courses to answer demand.
Sit opened its Queenstown campus last year at Remarkables Park and it was an immediate success, campus manager Pam Hulls said.
The unique zero fee scheme, launched by Sit, allowed students to study without taking on the debt of tuition fees.
The popular programme has resulted in the institute become one of the country's fastest-growing and most successful tertiary providers since its launch 10 years ago.
"The combination of zero fees with the buzz of Queenstown's world famous outdoor experience has been a real drawcard for our students who want to take advantage of all the region has to offer," Mrs Hulls said.
"We have full-time courses ranging from tourism management to business and beauty therapy as well as short courses in hospitality and IT."
The other three southern institute campuses in Invercargill, Gore and Christchurch had also had significant growth, particularly in Invercargill where the zero fees programme brought new population into the city, added to the community vibrancy and provided an economic windfall of more than $22 million.
The small class sizes offered at the Queenstown campus ensured plenty of hands-on experience and an excellent tutor-student ration for the 250 students already enrolled.
NZ is world's most peaceful nation - again
8th June 2010
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
New Zealand is the world's most peaceful nation, topping the "Global Peace Index" (GPI) for the second year running.
The fourth annual GPI has been compiled by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a global think tank that looks at the relationship between economic development, business and peace
In their latest index out today, the think tank suggests the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year.
New Zealand is followed by Iceland and Japan, the institute says small, stable and democratic countries consistently ranked highest.
Fifteen of the top 20 countries are western or central European countries.
Australia comes in at 19th and Papua New Guinea, the only other country in the region listed, is 95.
For the fourth year running, the country ranked least at peace is Iraq.
Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan follow.
The average score for the countries surveyed in the 2010 GPI is 2.02 (based on a 1-5 scale), a slight rise (less at peace) compared with last year, when the average stood at 1.964.
The top 10 GPI rankings:
1 New Zealand 1.188
2 Iceland 1.212
3 Japan 1.247
4 Austria 1.290
5 Norway 1.322
6 Ireland 1.337
7 Denmark 1.341
7 Luxembourg 1.341
9 Finland 1.352
10 Sweden 1.354
The bottom 10:
139 North Korea 2.855
140 Democratic Republic of the Congo 2.925
141 Chad 2.964
142 Georgia 2.970
143 Russia 3.013
144 Israel 3.019
145 Pakistan 3.050
146 Sudan 3.125
147 Afghanistan 3.252
148 Somalia 3.390
149 Iraq 3.406
Queenstown affordable housing projects get boost
3rd June 2010
Source: National Business review
Affordable housing projects targeted at people in expensive centres such as Queenstown and Nelson as well as Maori are winners in the latest round of approvals from the Housing Innovation Fund.
The fund was set up to foster collaboration between government and community organisations so more housing could be provided for New Zealanders on low incomes or with special housing needs.
Housing Minister Phil Heatley said $7.85 million of funding was being allocated.
The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust gets $1 million for an $8.8 million project to provide 20 new properties for affordable home ownership, while the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust gets $1.3 million toward a $2.61 million project to provide nine new properties for rental to low- to moderate-income people.
The other four projects are for 44 new properties for Maori to be built in Northland, Tauranga and Whakatane.
"Of the $20 million allocated for the 2009/10 Housing Innovation Fund, the government set aside $5 million for Maori Demonstration Partnerships to support innovative housing solutions, such as these for Maori," Mr Heatley said.
"The aim of the Housing Innovation Fund is to encourage partnerships and innovation within the housing sector. These projects demonstrate the success of this approach with $7.85 million coming from the government and $18.73 million being funded by the private sector."
The Housing Innovation Fund for 2009/2010 has now supported 16 projects that will result in 169 houses throughout New Zealand for families and individuals in need.
Qtown to trial new $3.2 million bus service
2nd June 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Faster, further and more often. That's what Queenstowners can expect from a new $3.2 million 32-month trial bus service to be launched in the resort next month.
The Otago Regional Council has contracted Queenstown bus company Connectabus to provide new services starting on July 14, when new feeder routes to Kelvin Heights, Arthurs Point Lake Hayes Estate, Quail Rise and Glenda Dr will begin.
Connectabus will also provide increased bus services from Queenstown to Arrowtown and Queenstown Airport.
The regional council has supplied $1.6 million for the trial funding. The NZ Transport Agency has supplied the other half of the funding and Queenstown Lakes District Council has provided infrastructure for the services.
Yesterday it was unknown how much a passenger would be paying for a ticket.
Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Cairns yesterday said the subsidies would last throughout the trial, but cut-off once the trial period ended and the routes were established as "fully commercial."
"There are significant transport issues for Queenstown as we look forward to a period of large growth in the town, and getting a decent public transport system in place is vital," Mr Cairns said.
Frequent bus user Rishi Yadav yesterday said Queenstown needed a more flexible bus service.
"I live in Frankton, work near town and don't have a car," he said.
"So the bus is the only means of transport I have without having to catch a taxi, so more and cheaper buses will be a good thing."
In a press release, Connectabus owner Ewen McCammon said the success of the trial depended on the public making use of the new services.
New Zealand’s biggest tourism conference will come to Queenstown in a year’s time.
According to a well-informed source, the Tourism Industry Association will announce the resort as the venue for the annual Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand (Trenz) conference tomorrow.
About 1200 delegates, including 252 exhibitors – with 21 from Queenstown - are attending the four-day expo in Auckland this week.
The expo, which features buyers from around the world who come to learn about and book NZ tourism products, has also been held in Christchurch and Rotorua, but in the past it’s been thought Queenstown doesn’t have a big enough venue to host it.
There’s been speculation the Coronet Peak base building, which has capacity for about 800 people, could be considered as a venue.
According to Mountain Scene’s source, the size of exhibition booths will be pared back to accommodate the event in Queenstown.
Summer flight capacity to be doubled
26th May 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown will be inundated with Australian tourists next summer after Air New Zealand announced yesterday it will almost double its seat capacity into the resort.
Speaking to The Southland Times at the Trenz Tourism Industry Rendezvous in Auckland yesterday, the national carrier's deputy chief executive Norm Thompson singled out Queenstown as a trans-Tasman route that would receive a large summer boost.
Since introducing the first direct trans-Tasman flights into Queenstown last summer there had been continued growth despite the recession. This meant the airline had the confidence to increase the number of flights, beginning in December, with an 88 per cent capacity boost expected, he said.
The average number of flights for the summer period will now be 4.5 a week, up from 2.6 last year.
The announcement comes after the airline increased its winter flights from Australia to 13 a week.
Queenstown was the perfect destination as it was already prepared for extra growth and had a range of accommodation options from backpackers to first class, Mr Thompson said.
"We wouldn't do it if we didn't have the confidence. We've got a lot of confidence in Queenstown because it's such a fantastic destination," he said.
While Australian tourists were the main target, the added flights would also make it possible for long-haul travellers to fly straight into Queenstown instead of Auckland or Christchurch, he said.
Queenstown Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said it was obviously great news and continued the support from the airline.
He would not confirm whether the airport was in discussions with other airlines to also increase their number of flights, citing confidentiality.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said the news was great for Queenstown as it attempted to establish itself as a four-season resort. "It's fantastic news. We've had great support from Air New Zealand with the ski season and now we're seeing that momentum continue," he said.
Mr Everitt was hopeful the announcement early in the conference would boost interest in the Queenstown section of booths.
Tourism Industry Association chief executive Tim Cossar said it was great news for the region and the country. Air New Zealand had invested heavily in the market and had seen a return so it was a natural fit to increase capacity, he said.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce president Alastair Porter said it was excellent news for the business community. "The chamber is confident Queenstown has much to offer the Australian market in summer," he said.
Air New Zealand also announced increased capacities on its routes to San Francisco, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Japan.
SUMMER FLIGHTS INTO QUEENSTOWN
Sydney to Queenstown – three flights a week mid-December to January, two flights February to March.
Brisbane to Queenstown – two flights a week mid-December to January, one flight February to March.
Melbourne to Queenstown – two flights a week mid-December to January.
Kelvin Heights turnoff gets makeover
25th May 2010
Source: The Southland Times
The threat of a serious crash at the poor visibility Kelvin Heights turnoff on to the Queenstown to Kingston highway has prompted work to begin on a $1.4 million safety realignment.
New Zealand Transport Agency project manager Nicholas Rodger said the intersection was relatively unsafe and posed very poor visibility. Motorists pulling out on to the highway to turn south towards the Remarkables did not have a lot of time to get across to the other side with such short visibility both ways along the highway.
"Vehicles turning out are at risk of being struck and collected over the hill."
The NZTA was realigning the extremely tight U-shape in the S-bend at the end of Peninsula Rd approaching the intersection.
Trucks turning there needed to cross the centre line.
"With the developments at Kawarau Falls Station and more development on Peninsula Rd, chances are there could be an accident with a tourist bus," Mr Rodger said.
A lot of tourist buses and service vehicles were expected at Kawarau Falls. "It was a risk we weren't prepared to live with."
The earthworks began two weeks ago and some landscaping would be done before work stopped for the ski season.
However, Mr Rodger said the project was programmed for completion by Christmas.
It would involve taking 3 metres out of the crest of the hill and filling in another 3 metres through the intersection.
Some funding for the work had been contributed by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the receivers for the Kawarau Falls Station development company.
The small parcel of land either side of the highway required for the project had been taken into Crown ownership under the Public Works Act after failing to reach agreement with the landowner over the value of the land, Mr Rodger said. The landowner could then apply for compensation.
The Boyd Rd realignment would be next on the programme, hopefully the following summer. That work would also take out an accident black spot and realign the road away from dangerous icy winter shading.
Budget - Income tax down, GST up
20th May 2010
Source: stuff.co.nz
Middle income earners have received a surprise windfall in the Budget, which will see tax rates fall across the board from October 1.
Finance Minister Bill English's second Budget cuts the top and bottom tax rates as expected, but also delivers much bigger than anticipated cuts for middle earners.
But about half the $29.42 tax cut for someone on the average wage will be clawed back by an increase in GST from 12.5 to 15 per cent, also on October 1.
Superannuation, benefits, Working for Families, student allowances and other income support will rise by 2.02 per cent on the same day to compensate for the higher GST.
The Budget also stops property investors from using depreciation to avoid paying the top rate and ends the free ride for wealthy households which shelter income in trusts to rort Working for Families.
Company tax and tax on some savings schemes will also fall next year.
From October 1, the top tax rate, payable on income above $70,000, will fall from 38 cents to 33. The 33 cent rate which applies on income between $48,000 and $70,000 will fall to 30 cents and the 21 cent rate, on income between $14,000 and $48,000, will fall to 17.5 cents.
The bottom rate, on earnings below $14,000, will be cut from 12.5 cents to 10.5.
The changes to the top and bottom rates were well-signalled ahead of the Budget, but the cut to the 33 cent rate was kept under wraps. The size of the reduction to the 21 cent rate was also bigger than expected.
The Government estimates the changes will deliver $29.42 a week to someone on the average wage of about $50,000 a year, before the extra costs of the rise in GST is taken into account.
Budget documents estimate that, assuming that earner spent all their after tax income on items that attract GST - which does not apply to rents and mortgage payments - they would face extra costs of $15.71 a week, leaving them $13.71 a week better off.
But the cuts to the middle rates flow through to higher earners, meaning those at the top also get more than expected.
Someone earning $120,000 a year will be $89.04 a week better off after the tax cuts, and $56.08 better off accounting for the rise in GST, according to Budget calculations.
Mr English said the changes were part of an 'overwhelming' need to rebalance the tax system to make it fairer and end rorts.
"Tax reform is a centrepiece of this Budget," he told Parliament.
"We want a system that rewards effort and helps families get ahead. One that attracts and retains skilled people in New Zealand. One that encourages savings and productive investment."
He said earlier the cuts, together with the increase in GST, would see most households between 0.4 and 0.7 per cent a year better off.
Other tax changes include cutting the company rate from 30 cents to 28 cents from next year - a move that will put New Zealand ahead of Australia's rates. The rate on portfolio investment entities (PIEs), unit trusts, superannuation funds and life insurance policies will also reduce from 30 cents to 28.
From next year, property investors will no longer be able to claim depreciation on their buildings against their income and the values of assets held in trusts will be counted as part of a household's income when deciding eligibility for Working for Families.
Inland Revenue has estimated thousands of households with investment properties have used trusts to rort Working for Families.
Other Budget highlights include:
* An extra $2.1 billion for health over the next four years, including $512 million this year.
* An extra $1.4 billion for education, including $417 million this year
* $1.45 billion for infrastructure projects, including $200 million for ultra-fast broadband, $500 million for rail, $337.4 million to increase prison capacity and $177.4 million for new school buildings.
The Budget estimates the economy will grow by 3.2 per cent in the next year, and remain at similar levels for the next three years.
Unemployment is forecast to decline from 7.1 per cent in March this year to 6.2 per cent next year and continue tracking down to 4.6 per cent by 2014.
'Building 13' may boost SIT campus
18th May 2010
Source: The Southland Times
A new building proposed for Queenstown could lead to the expansion of the SIT campus and the first Chipmunks childcare centre for the resort.
Remarkables Park has applied for resource consent to construct a four-storey building near the SIT campus at the shopping centre.
"Building 13" would house Chipmunks and a cafe on the basement and first floor, and 16 apartments on the top floors.
Remarkables Park director Alastair Porter said the building was the next step in the shopping centre's development.
Chipmunks was a leader in its field and would fit in well in the family atmosphere of the centre, he said.
SIT and Remarkables Park were confident there was a gap in the market for affordable student accommodation in Queenstown, but if anything changed the apartments could be used as visitor accommodation or turned into office space, he said.
Mr Porter said he hoped consent would be granted at the end of the month and building could start as early as next month, with the opening scheduled for the end of the year or early next year.
SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said there was much interest in the Queenstown campus from overseas students, but it had been reluctant to place them when there was nowhere for them to stay.
In Invercargill, the number of foreign students had grown by 182 per cent in the 2008-09 financial year and the increase looked set to be even bigger this year, Ms Simmonds said.
Building 13 would provide a great location for students next to the campus and in an area that had plenty of shops and restaurants, she said.
Chipmunks representatives could not be contacted.
Extra tourism cash applauded
17th May 2010
Source: The Southland Times
The Queenstown tourism industry has been buoyed by the prime minister's announcement of $10 million of extra funding to market New Zealand overseas.
John Key made the announcement in a speech to the New Zealand Hotel Industry Conference in Auckland yesterday.
The $30 million package includes the continuation of $5 million available to joint-venture initiatives that was introduced last year and a $10 million increase for funding for Tourism New Zealand to target overseas markets.
The $5 million fund is available as a dollar-for-dollar match to any money a regional tourism body puts forward and can be used only in the Australian market.
The other $25 million will be used mainly in Australia, the United States and China.
Destination Queenstown marketing general manager Graham Budd said the funding was great news for New Zealand and Queenstown.
Last year Destination Queenstown had contributed about $500,000 to the joint-venture fund.
The organisation was in the process of finalising the amount for the next financial year but it would probably be about the same, Mr Budd said. The fact the money could be used only in the Australian market was not a limitation, as it was important to make sure there was a strong campaign in Queenstown's strongest market.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes said the announcement was positive and despite all the talk about energy and mining it was good to hear the Government still considered the tourism industry an important part of the economy.
The continuation of the regional joint-venture fund was particularly encouraging, he said. "The Government is prepared to help those that are prepared to help themselves."
Ngai Tahu Tourism southern regional general manager David Kennedy said it was a myth that visitors would automatically come to Queenstown and some overseas competitors actually targeted the resort to try to steal some of the adventure tourism market.
It was important to project a strong brand overseas and it was encouraging the Government was providing extra funds to do this.
Rezoning plan change 'totally out of order'
13th May 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
The "lungs" of the Queenstown Lakes district - land in the rural general zone - needed to be protected, Dame Elizabeth Hanan told commissioners yesterday during a hearing for private plan change 39 (Arrowtown south).
She told independent commissioners Mike Garland, of Christchurch, Lyal Cocks and Gillian Macleod the proposal to rezone 31ha of rural land, allowing for a comprehensive development south of the existing town, should be rejected.
The plan change was "totally out of order" when deliberations were ongoing regarding the outcome of plan change 30 (urban boundaries) and plan change 29 (Arrowtown boundary), both proposed by the council, she said.
"The plan change before you is to extend housing, creating a mini Queenstown or Lake Hayes Estate, which is contrary to everything the district plan stands for and heavily erodes the rural general zone.
"The proposal is not for low-density housing, but concentrated housing to maximise return to the developers.
"This is a rural area and it is essential to provide open space such as this - the lungs of the district.
"For the 31ha to be converted into housing is to destroy the backdrop of Arrowtown and the Wakatipu Basin.
"It is time the rural general zone is retained, giving the area its character and point of difference.
"This zone is under threat and needs the QLDC to give it protection under the district plan."
Dame Elizabeth said Arrowtown was the "last village concept" in the Queenstown Lakes district network and to allow developers "to destroy this for their own personal gain" would mean a long-term loss.
"The whole Wakatipu Basin ought not be covered in housing.
"The views of the majority of submitters in opposition should be respected."
However, Arrowtown resident Don Spary disagreed, saying the proposal was "an ideal proposition" to help growth pressure in the town "in a positive manner".
"The problem is Arrowtown has become extremely popular.
"Arrowtown is a victim of it's own success, but we can't [stop growth] just because things have changed.
"There is a real demand for people to come and live in this place.
"There are a million reasons why people should have the opportunity.
"I would have thought it was council's job to meet the demand, not only for the existing population ... but the new population coming and wanting their chance."
Mr Spary said he accepted there were "strong feelings" about Arrowtown, which should be listened to.
However, "on the other hand, you also have to look at facing reality".
"The reality is, Arrowtown will continue to expand."
The hearing continues at the Athenaeum Hall today.
Planning your next holiday for 2010? Here is a list of the world's best travel spots recommended by travel website TripAdvisor:
1. Best Destination in the World - Monaco. Monte-Carlo is home to the celebrated Monte Carlo Casino. This glamorous palace is full of frescoes, sculptures, and features an astonishing gold and marble atrium - not to mention the main attraction, gambling. Steeped in 700 years of Grimaldi royal history, Monte-Carlo's location is stunning, tucked between French medieval villages and the Alps. Take in a world-class opera or ballet, bask in the sun on Larvotto Beach or get an adrenaline rush at May's Formula 1 Grand Prix.
2. Best Destination in the US - San Francisco, California. Who cares about a little fog when there's so much to do in San Francisco? By day, explore Fisherman's Wharf and the Aquarium of the Bay, ride a cable car, and stroll around the Presidio; by night, have a fabulous dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant or a tiny place in Chinatown, then hit some of the best clubs on the West Coast.
3. Best Destination in the World for Beach and Sun - Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. Scuba diving, horseback riding, sunbathing, take your pick. "Provo" offers plenty for the happy couple to do, including picture-perfect coastlines to walk along, hand in hand. The island itself is relatively tranquil; try Malcolm Beach to get even further away from crowds.
4. Best Destination in the US for Beach & Sun - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Myrtle Beach is a family-friendly beach destination - which means in addition to great beaches, there's plenty to do when the kids are sick of making sand castles. Amusement parks, water sports and golf courses are nearby. And family-friendly dining and hotels abound.
5. Best Destination in the World for Culture and Sightseeing - Florence, Italy. Everyone's heard the Doors of Paradise, the Duomo and Michelangelo's David are captivating, but in Florence, beauty can sneak up on a traveller unexpectedly. You'll duck into a random church to escape the heat only to spend two hours staring at an impossibly pure blue in a fresco. Or you'll consider writing a sonnet about pear gelato. It's just that kind of place. Don't miss the sunset over the Arno and the famous wines of the Chianti region just south of town.
6. Best Destination in the US for Culture & Sightseeing - Washington, D.C. Make sure you bring cash to Washington, D.C. Not that it's expensive -- actually, many museums are free - or that no one accepts plastic. It's just an awful lot of fun to hold up a $US5 bill next to the actual Lincoln Memorial, or a $US20 in front of the White House. In between touring monuments and historical sights, check out the quirky International Spy Museum, watch pandas at the National Zoo, or catch a military band playing an outdoor concert on Capitol Hill.
7. Best Destination in the World for Families - Marne-la-Vallee, France. Why did Marne-la-Vallee make the list? It's simple: Disneyland Park Paris. Families have flocked here since its opening in 1992. Other Disney attractions include Walt Disney Studios Park and Golf Disneyland. If you need a break from Minnie and Mickey, visit the Sea Life Centre or Val d'Europe Shopping Center.
8. Best Destination in the US for Families - Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Shaped by the currents and curves of the Wisconsin River, Wisconsin Dells has been a favourite family vacation destination for more than 150 years. An explosion of indoor water parks has turned the Dells from a summer hot spot to a year-round destination. Kids will enjoy the seemingly endless supply of fun and games, from go-karts to miniature golf, sideshows to thrill rides. If the weather's right, you can take a Duck tour of land and water, and top it all off with a heaping helping of the local fudge.
9. Best Destination in the US and World for Food & Wine - Napa, California. Napa made three of the lists this year -? It might just be the world's most perfect spot for a weekend getaway. What more do you really need than romantic inns, great food and wine and relaxing spas?
10. Best Destination in the US and World for Nightlife - New Orleans, Louisiana. While parts of the city still are rebuilding the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans welcomes travellers and pulls out all the stops to show them a good time. And it's not merely Southern hospitality - tourism funds help make rebuilding possible. So take a tour of the elegant Garden District, hit a jazz club, dine at the Commander's Palace, or join the crowds on Bourbon Street -? You'll have a fine time, and you can feel good about every dollar you spend.
11. Best Destination in the World for Outdoor and Adventure - Queenstown, New Zealand. Staggering beauty and heart-pumping thrills await in the resort town of Queenstown, which is also known for its Hobbits - much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in the area. Outdoor enthusiasts flock to Queenstown for kayaking, bungee jumping, jetboating, white-water rafting, hiking and skiing. More mild-mannered adventurers can take a quiet cruise through nearby Milford Sound, part of the Fjordland National Park World Heritage area or sample South Island pinot noir from one of the region's 75 wineries.
12. Best Destination in the US for Outdoor and Adventure - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. This gorgeous, high-altitude National Park straddles the Continental Divide - which means there are two distinct climate patterns here. Visitors enjoy prime rock-climbing, hiking and biking trails, and plenty of camping options. If you're after a more educational outdoor experience, take one of the Rocky Mountain Nature Association Field Seminars.
13. Best Destination in the US and World for Relaxation and Spa - Sedona, Arizona. Anyplace can have an amazing pool and spa, but an amazing pool and spa in the middle of a gorgeous desert? That's what you'll find at Sedona's resorts. If you do feel like taking a break from lounging poolside and sampling different kinds of massages, you'll find miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback tours. Afterward, of course, you'll need another massage. It's the good kind of vicious cycle.
14. Best Destination in the World for Romance - Oia, Greece. Oia is carved out of the cliffs, and visitors can see houses built for Venetian sea captains as well as the more typical "cave houses" of the villagers. You'll find the pure white buildings with colourful roofs that are typical of Greek architecture, and you'll probably enjoy poking around the town. But don't breeze through in an hour - you must stay for the sunset. It's legendary. Watch from a cafe, or, better yet, from a boat - you'll be spellbound.
15. Best Destination in the US for Romance - Napa, California. It's no wonder Napa made three of our lists this year -? It might just be the world's most perfect spot for a weekend getaway. What more do you really need than romantic inns, great food and wine, and relaxing spas?
16. Best Emerging Destination in the World - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. South of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on the Austrian border lies Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze, rising nearly 10,000 feet and offering gorgeous glacier-top skiing. The towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen used to be separate, but were merged for the 1936 Winter Olympics. With almost 75 miles of downhill runs of all difficulty levels, Zugspitze also has 68 miles of cross-country trails, a terrain park and Germany's first superpipe.
'Hendo's hole' designs almost finished
5th May 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Designs for the first stage of a resurgent Five Mile development are nearing completion.
Auckland developer Tony Gapes and supermarket operator Progressive Enterprises bought the 7.7ha site for $11 million last year.
Famous for the enormous hole in the ground, known as "Hendo's hole" after former owner Dave Henderson, about 4.5ha of the site can be developed for commercial use.
Colliers International retail leasing manager Ash Hira said costing, feasibility and design work was nearing completion and should be finished in about a month.
The development is being designed by architect Peter Zillman, who was the lead designer of The Palms shopping centre in Christchurch.
Once the work was complete, talks with retailers could begin, although there had already been interest from parties who did not now have a presence in Queenstown, he said.
"You need to do a lot of that work before you get in to a stage before you can start talking intelligently to retailers," he said.
Shotover Country plan a step closer to reality
5th May 2010
Source: The Southland Times
A development near Queenstown in which more than 700 houses could be built took a step closer to becoming a reality yesterday after a decision was made to allow it to proceed to public consultation.
The proposed Shotover Country development neighbours about 550 houses in Lake Hayes Estate. If it proceeds, the combined population of the two areas could be larger than Arrowtown.
The proposal includes provision for "affordable" housing, a school, preschool, parks, a neighbourhood reserve and walkways.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council strategy committee yesterday decided to recommend the council accept plan change 41, which will allow the project to move forward to public consultation.
Ladies Mile Partnership spokesman Neil McDonald yesterday said he was pleased with the decision.
"We think it's pretty hard to find anything bad in what we have planned," he said.
Partners were already acting on advice from the Education Ministry on the school site and had been in communication with the NZ Transport Authority about the transportation hub that is envisioned for Shotover Country, Mr McDonald said.
The land is owned by five landowners. The shared vision of using the land as an affordable development started in 1992, Mr McDonald said.
"It's a big feat to get so many people to agree on one thing, but in this case we're all on the same page, because this is the last patch of flat ground that could be used for such a project in the area."
About half the land parcel, which was owned by the Stalker family, had been valued at about $10 million, he said.
If planning and resource procedures with the council went smoothly, the first building on the development could begin in 12 to 18 months, Mr McDonald estimated.
The development would include a small retail area, Mr McDonald said.
Queenstown Housing Trust chairman David Cole yesterday said the trust would welcome the chance to work with the Shotover Country partnership to potentially deliver some of the trust's low cost housing programmes.
Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes yesterday said many more decisions had to be made before the development could go ahead.
Any plan change adopted by the council was subject to appeal at the Environment Court, and he said he could not comment on something that was still under due process.
Tourism remains bouyant
4th May 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Queenstown tourism has weathered the global economic crisis "relatively well" because it refocused its efforts on the resilient Australian market, Destination Queenstown's draft business plan says.
The draft plan for the 2010-11 financial year is now open to members for further submissions.
According to the plan, DQ aims to increase total visitor spending in Queenstown to $1 billion over the next five years. This works out at an annual growth of 5%.
The estimated value of visitor spending was $789 million for 2008, with 70% from international visitors and 30% from domestic.
DQ wants to increase visitor numbers by 2% every year, and hits on its website by 10%.
"Ministry of Tourism Queenstown RTO 2009-15 forecast predicts annual growth of 1.3%. Our goal is to nearly double this. In the medium-term, we aim to grow visitation to Queenstown to 2 million by 2015," the plan says.
DQ also aims to cut operational costs by 5%, from $1.05 million to $940,611 next year.
Its budgeted income for the 2010-11 financial year is $3.09 million, up from $3.05 million this year.
The plan outlines how DQ next year will promote Queenstown as the premier tourist destination.
It will encourage tourism businesses to improve sustainability because it is an "increasing area of consumer interest".
Its consumer marketing campaigns in Australia and New Zealand will focus on low seasons and skiing.
Opportunities in special interest tourism such as golf, cycling, food and wine will be developed and events, including the Rugby World Cup, will be "leveraged" to build Queenstown's brand and profile.
"There is an opportunity to bundle RWC 2011 tickets with midweek ski packages, particularly for Australian visitors. Visitors will want an authentic New Zealand experience during RWC 2011. They will be tourists during the week and rugby supporters on the weekends," it said.
However, the organisation needs to "extinguish the perception that the whole country will be full" or accommodation too expensive throughout RWC 2011 to ensure non-rugby visitors are not put off.
As the global economy recovers, DQ anticipates more opportunities in Conventions and Incentives.
The plan says "2009 was a challenging year for the tourism sector due to the global financial crisis and swine flu. The worst seems to be over, but recovery is likely to be gradual. There have been major shifts in the market mix of international visitors - more Australians and Germans, less Asians, Brits and tour groups generally."
AN 11% increase to 106,000 in Australian visitors and a record ski season offset declines in other markets last year.
However, "last-minute bookings and dynamic pricing are here to stay", it says.
Four airlines now fly into Queenstown and 60% more transtasman flights than last year are due for the coming ski season.
Financial problems have delayed the hotel project at Kawarau Falls but Stage 1 completion "can be reasonably expected" in the coming financial year, which will add several hundred rooms.
The plan says visitors expect beautiful scenery, an unpolluted environment, adventure, friendly people, and good food and wine.
"The natural environment is predictably becoming a bigger area of consumer and media interest. At the international and national levels, discussion is intensifying around the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign. Queenstown needs to be vigilant in this area given our Pure Inspiration tagline."
Time finally called on historic pub
29th April 2010
Source: Scene.co.nz
The clock is ticking for Queenstown’s landmark Arthurs Point Tavern – it’s earmarked to be bulldozed. Stonework has already come off the disused, run-down boozer and it’s only a matter of time before it’s flattened. Co-owner Rick Pettit is waiting to swap the crumbling building with Queenstown Lakes District Council for prime roadside land out front, adding to the carpark he already owns opposite.
“The deal is I take over the road [in front], they take over the pub,” Pettit says – no money changes hands.
QLDC would then demolish the hotel and replace it with a straightened roadway as part of its Gorge Road upgrade.
A pub’s been on the site since the 1880s but it’s not a Historic
Places Trust-protected building because it’s been too heavily modified, Pettit says.
“But when it is demolished, Historic Places will want someone on site in case there’s anything of significant interest underneath the building.”
Meantime, Pettit says he let a stonemason take stone off the building that otherwise might have ended up in the dump.
Apart from the land swap, QLDC has two other steps to take before bowling the tavern.
QLDC project manager Lane Vermaas says it needs to legalise the road reserve out front, then design and cost the roadworks including a new two-lane McChesney Bridge nearby.
Former councillor Pettit says if someone else had bought the pub and developed it, QLDC might have faced a bill for millions of dollars to wind a safer road around it.
Pettit and business partner Paul Halford have drawn up $10 million plans for a tavern, apartments, offices and shops across the current road, on the pub’s former carpark above the Shotover River.
Pettit says their second design received glowing praise from QLDC’s urban design panel, but those plans are on hold in the current economic climate.
Housing proposed near former ponds
28th April 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
If the amended proposed plan change for the Arrowtown boundary is approved by commissioners, up to 30 homes could be built beside decommissioned sewage ponds in Jopp St, a hearing was told yesterday.
The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust wants to have Jopp St land owned by the Queenstown Lakes District Council designated within the Arrowtown boundary, trust chairman David Cole told commissioners Mike Garland, of Christchurch, and Andrew Henderson, of Dunedin, at the Athenaeum Hall, in Arrowtown.
The 3.68ha site is zoned as rural land and in 1977 was designated for sewage treatment works, before being decommissioned in 1995.
Addressing the second day of the Plan Change 29: Arrowtown Boundary hearing, Mr Cole said a community charette in 2003 found Jopp St would be suitable for residential development, with an initial proposal for 60 houses receiving positive support from Arrowtown residents.
The proposal was now for half the number of homes.
While 0.86ha of the site was "capped ponds" and classified as "contaminated" by the Otago Regional Council, the remaining 2.78ha of land was free from sludge.
If approved, 2000sq m would be set aside for a mulching facility, with the balance as reserve, open space and dwellings.
Mr Cole said the inclusion of Jopp St within the boundary would allow the development of the "comprehensive residential development" which could be lodged as a private plan change or resource consent.
The trust, a community-owned organisation which had about $8 million in assets "with little or no debt", had assisted 33 families in the past three years and was expecting to expand that to more than 50 during the next 12 to 15 months.
In the next five years, the trust aimed to have assisted 150 households, and Jopp St was a "crucial part of that."
"Ordinary" Queenstown families faced an "insurmountable barrier" in buying their first home, he said.
An entry level home at Lake Hayes Estate cost about $525,000, which required a deposit of more than $100,000, leaving a mortgage debt of about $420,000 - requiring about 55% of a household's gross annual income to service.
"The trust has more than 300 expressions of interest on its books . . .
They include teachers, nurses, police officers, chefs, line technicians, project managers, broadcasters, legal advisers and all the trades.
"They are the glue in our community.
If we can't meet their housing needs, we can't expect them to stay.
"As a community, we cannot expect the affordable problem to be solved by private developers. Collectively, we must all contribute to solve it."
Mr Cole said some of the houses would be sold to the open market, some preserved for rental and others retained as "affordable" through the trust's shared ownership project.
Open dialogue with the community would allay any fears of what may be developed on the site.
"If we don't seize the opportunity that vacant land like Jopp St presents and prefer to lock it up for unproductive purposes, it will presage a different and far more segregated solution down the track where this community is forced to zone and build cheap accommodation shelters for housing the essential workforce for tomorrow's Queenstown.
"None of us want to see that happen."
Queenstown Lakes District Council regulatory and corporate services general manager Roger Taylor said the council's submission was made in its corporate capacity as owner of the Jopp St land.
The council supported Plan Change 29, with the amendment to include Jopp St within the boundary.
Mr Taylor said use of the Jopp St land to include affordable residential development was consistent with council policies and the site was able to contribute to the proportionate Arrowtown demand for affordable housing.
Arrowtown Village Association secretary Gerard Hall said the association had lodged a neutral submission on the proposed boundary.
The hearing was adjourned yesterday for commissioners to deliberate.
It was expected to be several weeks before their decision was forwarded to the full council.
Arrowtown change 'inevitable'
27th April 2010
Source: Southland Times
Change for Arrowtown was "inevitable" and residents needed to move with it rather than stubbornly refuse it, an ex-councillor said yesterday.
Don Spary made the comments at the first morning of a five-day public hearing for plan change 29, a Queenstown Lakes District Council move to consider placing an urban boundary around Arrowtown.
The plan change, along with the linked private plan change 39 to rezone rural land to add another 215 residential units in an area to be called Arrowtown South, has generated massive debate in the community.
More than 500 submissions were received on plan change 29 with most agreeing with the proposal. Thirty submissions were received in opposition.
Despite the seemingly overwhelming support for creating a boundary, Mr Spary, who is a landowner in the area, suggested residents were naive if they thought they could control growth in the town.
Arrowtown had constantly changed through the years from a booming mining town to a failed mining town, then to a farming community and to today's tourism destination. It was important to protect the heritage of the town but the plan change would be too expensive and was unnecessary, he said. "This process has gone mad and we've got to change it."
Resident Judith Mahon was also against the proposed boundary, saying a lot of people who were vocal against the expansion of Arrowtown were new residents.
But Arrowtown Residents Group spokesman Peter Roberts said there was "overwhelming support" for the plan change and the assumed need for growth in the area was puzzling. "It seems to me the rush of growth we're proposing ... is almost obscene."
Arrowtown was a balance compared with the party town of Queenstown and the more Arrowtown became like its bigger brother the worse it would be for both towns, he said. There were already infrastructure problems with water, wastewater and parking shortages and Mr Roberts questioned how the area would deal with further growth.
Resident Karen Swaine said the argument for expansion was circular because there would always be people who would pay whatever it took to live in Arrowtown, which would in turn keep driving growth. "It's time to draw a line around Arrowtown and allow no more development."
NZ urged to follow Australia's lead on housing
26th April 2010
Source: National Business Review
New Zealand should follow Australia's lead and tighten foreign investment rules around housing to make it more affordable for New Zealanders, the Green Party says.
Australia is re-introducing restrictions on foreign home ownership which mean foreign citizens need Foreign Investment Review Board permission to buy houses, and they have to sell them when they quit the country.
"Foreign investors have contributed to the speculative bubble in housing prices in Australia and New Zealand over the last five years," Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said.
"This has made housing expensive and inaccessible for ordinary New Zealanders."
Dr Norman warned investors would opt for New Zealand as a result of the restrictions.
"We need to tighten rules around housing and land in order to help make housing more affordable for New Zealand citizens and residents," he said.
March visitor numbers 'good'
26th April 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Queenstown's tourism industry had "good" visitor numbers last month, reflecting a national upturn in visitor arrivals.
Statistics New Zealand figures showed there were 2.5 million visitors to New Zealand in March, 98,400, or 7%, more than the previous March.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said while Queenstown visitor numbers were not yet available, he expected them to be "in line" with the national increase.
"Our March accommodation monitor figures won't be available until mid-May but anecdotally we understand Queenstown did have a good March. We have had quite positive feedback from operators," he said.
The Australian market continued to "perform well" for Queenstown in March.
However, he said Queenstown was entering its quiet shoulder season.
"It looks like it's going to be a quiet couple of months ahead," he said.
"Traditionally, it is a quiet season but there are additional factors, like the New Zealand economy seems to have plateaued at the moment. That will have an impact," he said.
However, bookings for the ski season were looking good.
Statistics NZ statistics manager Denise McGregor said the earlier timing of Easter and the school holidays, both in Australia and New Zealand, resulted in more short-term travel to and from New Zealand in March.
"Although these holidays did not start until 2 April, it is common to see increases in travel shortly before holiday periods begin," she said.
Nationally, there were 141,000 more visitors from Australia, an increase 20% from March 2009.
However, this was partly offset by decreases in visitors from Japan, Korea, China, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.
There were 1000 more arrivals than departures in March, the same figure as February, but down from the 1900 average.
There were 600 fewer arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens compared with March 2009.
Departures of New Zealand citizens continued to decrease.
Queenstown Landscape architect takes top award
26th April 2010
Source: Queenstownproperty.com
Landscape architect Philip Blakely, of Arrowtown near Queenstown, won two top awards in the NZILA Resene Pride of Place Landscape Architecture Awards for his work the Southern Lakes district.
Mr Blakely, of Blakely Wallace and Associates, won two golds one including a special colour and the other including a sustainability award.
The former was for his design of Queenstown Airport's landscape development project at Frankton, while the latter award recognises the Routeburn Track's Visitor Development project, in Mount Aspiring National Park.
Winner of the supreme award was John Potter for his design of St Patrick's Square of Wyndham St, Auckland
Property sales and loans decline in New Zealand but prices reach a record high, figures show
23rd April 2010
Source: propertywire.com
There are fewer property sales and loans being processed in New Zealand as potential buyers display pre-budget jitters but prices have recorded a record high.
The number of people who received mortgages in the first quarter of this year saw a record 30% decline on 2009, as house sales stalled and investors threw caution to the wind about possible tax changes in the budget.
One-third fewer mortgages were approved in the 13 weeks to April 9, compared with the same period last year, while the overall value of loan approvals dropped 25.2%, according to the figures compiled by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from about 95% of home loan lenders in the New Zealand market.
According to property expert Olly Newland property turnover had slowed, reducing the numbers of mortgages being approved as some investors were being spooked by speculation the Government could stop property investors claiming depreciation tax breaks in the May 20 budget.
At the same time more people were renting as they came to realise it was cheaper than owning a property, while capital gain remained so elusive, he said.
Lee Hatton, Head of Retail Northern Region, at BNZ said overall the market had softened with prospects for new lending slowing down. ‘In comparison to this time last year, we have seen less customers looking for approvals but our overall approval rate has actually increased for this period,’ he explained.
Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Philip Borkin said talk of changes to the tax system on property investment had left many investors sitting on the fence while a sharp rise in longer-term mortgage rates had also added to the dip in numbers of people taking out loans.
But the latest figures also show that property prices reached a 20 year high for the month of March. The median sale price of homes rose to $360,500, some 7% up on the same period last year, and the highest March figure in 20 years, according to the data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.
REINZ president Peter McDonald said the apparently strengthening market was an encouraging sign. ‘Despite an abundance of good listings at present, we are still seeing prices going up as a result of strong demand from genuine home buyers,’ he explained.
McDonald said the figures were in contrast to November figures when listings were short and prices went up because demand was not being met.
The largest annual percentage increases were in Auckland, up 9.31% and Taranaki, up 8.52%. Southland also showed strong growth with the annual median price rising more than 5.3%.
Another indicator of the strengthening market was the recorded fall in the median number of days which fell from 46 to 35 from February to March. Sales were quickest in Wellington, Canterbury/Westland and Otago at 29 median days.
Flying into Queenstown to become easier
23rd April 2010
Source: tvnz.co.nz
The odds on pilots getting passengers to Queenstown airport in difficult weather have just been lifted.
Jetstar has called on the latest in navigation technology to improve its access to a destination ringed by mountains.
The spectacular mountains surrounding Queenstown are a thrill for tourists to see when landing but once winter weather closes in it gives the Jetstar pilots no room to move.
"Queenstown's peculiar in that it's an airport in a very difficult terrain," says Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan.
However the introduction of new technology means pilots will not have to worry about this any more.
Captain Tyrone Simes says it allow the pilots to fly curved approaches, down valleys and around mountains without having to see them.
Without the new technology planes could only fly to 1,000 metres above the ground without visibility, but once the new systems in place they can fly to 200 metres in thick cloud.
The technology is already used by some other airlines flying into the resort.
Millbrook Among World's Best Golf Resorts
21st April 2010
Source: voxy.co.nz
Queenstown's five-star Millbrook resort has again been named among the world's best golf resorts by a prestigious Australian travel magazine.
The Luxury Travel and Style magazine has placed Millbrook 4th in its Gold List of best overseas golf resorts, behind the likes of Scotland's legendary St Andrews course, Pebble Beach in California and New Zealand's Kauri Cliffs.
Its survey goes to tens of thousands of discerning, travel-loving readers and clients of Virtuoso, the world's most exclusive travel agents, to vote on their favourite destinations each year.
Millbrook General Manager David Onions says the team at Millbrook is absolutely delighted to be consistently recognised as one of the world's top golf resorts.
"To be recognized as one of the world's best places to play golf, amongst such illustrious company, is a fantastic accolade. It's ideal timing because a lot of Australians are booking their ski holidays now.
"Millbrook is the perfect choice for a winter holiday because it's close to the action of Queenstown and the ski fields, just a 20-minute drive to Coronet Peak, yet has a tranquility and ambience about it which allows people to unwind in five-star style with world-class golf, spa and restaurant facilities on their doorstep."
Last year, for the fourth year in a row, Millbrook was ranked among the top 25 hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific by the prestigious Travel & Leisure annual World's Best reader's poll. It was New Zealand's only South Island property to make the list.
The Spa at Millbrook was also the only spa in Australasia to make it to the internationally-renowned Top 10 Hotel Spas Worldwide list.
Mr Onions pays tribute to the hard work and vision of the team driving the ongoing upgrade and modification of Millbrook's golf courses which is due to be completed by Christmas 2010.
"It's an exciting time for us. We continually strive to be the best and I firmly believe the work we're doing this year will take golf at Millbrook to a whole new level and provide greater flexibility and satisfaction for our golfers."
Millbrook's new Coronet Nine, designed by Turner McPherson and officially opened in January by Prime Minister John Key, follows a links layout that is new to Millbrook and an extension of its already world-class offering.
Golf course designer Greg Turner of Turner McPherson Golf says the course layout is new to Millbrook, designed with careful consideration to the natural landscapes.
"The natural contours of the land for golf course construction are brilliant," he says. "The exceptional surrounding landscape means that nothing within the course itself needed to be contrived."
The Coronet Nine and the Remarkables Nine are currently in play and work is now underway to redesign and reconfigure four holes on the Arrow Nine, the third and final part of a $500 million Millbrook development master plan.
By Christmas 2010 Millbrook will become a fully interchangeable 27-hole golf course with The Remarkables Nine, Coronet Nine and Arrow Nine creating three different 18-hole combinations, where any two out of the three 'nines' can be played together.
Queenstown strong for Jetstar
21st April 2010
Source: queenstownproperty.com
Ten months into its New Zealand operations, Queenstown is one of Jetstar's strongest performers, with the airport reporting really strong growth on its Christchurch to Queenstown leg.
The low-cost airline this week celebrated clocking more than one million passengers since its Kiwi launch in June last year.
Passengers had been enjoying average airfares of under $70 between Christchurch and Queenstown, airline spokesman Gerard Blank said this month.
More than one in every three of Jetstar's customers flew in New Zealand for under $50, he said.
The two Queenstown routes, Queenstown - Christchurch and Queenstown - Auckland are both performing really well, Mr Blank said.
RNP (required navigational performance) equipment would be fitted to all of Jetstar's Airbus A320's operated in and out of Queenstown by June this year in time for winter, he said.
Air New Zealand fitted the RNP technology to six of its Boeing 737-Series 300 aircraft in time for the start of the 2007 winter, enabling those aircraft to fly into Queenstown in bad weather with visibility as low as 153m.
The new equipment had enabled hundreds more passengers, who would normally have been stranded in bad weather, in and out of the resort.
Queenstown is the only airport in the country where RNP is used because of its mountainous, visual flight rules approach.
Air New Zealand Queenstown manager Dave Whitaker said Queenstown was the most difficult airport in the world to fly into because of its mountainous terrain, with only one airport, in Alaska, considered to be more challenging.
Mr Blank said Jetstar's fit-outs and accreditations were being done and its pilots were being trained in the new equipment in time for winter.
The low-cost airline was seeing a growing trend of Queenstown and Otago-based business people using its services out of the resort. It also received a lot of requests to launch in Invercargill and Dunedin, but no decision had been made to do so as yet.
Mr Blank said although Jetstar's first month of on-time performance last year wasn't where we wanted to be , the airline was now arriving within 15 minutes of it scheduled times on average 85 percent of the time, often up to 90 percent of the time.
There's been a really strong focus to make sure that works, Mr Blank said.
To celebrate its one millionth passenger Jetstar launched a two-day fare sale this month and its one millionth passenger was set to receive a family holiday of their choice to any New Zealand destination.
Construction begins on $9 million complex
20th April 2010
Source: queenstownproperty.com
Construction of the first stage of Diversified NZ Property Fund's $9 million complex at Remarkables Town Centre begins in a fortnight and should be completed later this year.
New tenants already signed up for the 1400 sqm retail building included Whitcoulls, The Coffee Club, Kapa Gallery and Canterbury of New Zealand with strong enquiries for the rest of the space, the group's general manager retail Roy Stansfield said.
Mr Stansfield said known as 'Building 10' the complex was one of the critical final steps in completing the 26,000 sqm Town Centre development. It would activate the North East corner of the centre, across the car park from New World and adjacent to Hawthorne Drive.
The construction contract had been awarded to Naylor Love, whose Otago regional office is located at Remarkables Park Town Centre.
Mr Stansfield said the group's decision followed close on the heels of other significant land development announcements for Remarkables Park, including an $80 million retirement village and a new three-level commercial building to get under way by the end of May.
The Town Centre develoment was the core feature of the 150ha Remarkables Park land.
Diversified NZ Property Fund Limited was established in November 2007 with the purchase of Remarkables Park Town Centre. Since then the fund had purchased a half share in Johnsonville Shopping Centre in Wellington and a share in Pukekohe Mega Centre. The fund was owned by two major Australian institutional superannuation fund managers.
NZ Home Prices Increase
19th April 2010
Source: emigratenz.org
New Zealand’s average house price rose to $360,500 in March, an increase of $10,500 on last month and up from $335,000 in March 2009.
The number of properties sold also rose, with 6,161 sales in March compared to 5,029 in February, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
March house sales were down by 8 percent, compared with the same time last year.
REINZ president, Peter McDonald described the apparently strengthening residential property market as most encouraging:
“Despite an abundance of good listings at present, we are still seeing prices going up as a result of strong demand from genuine home buyers.”
House prices are 7.6 percent higher than 12 months ago, when New Zealand’s median house price was $335,000.
The number of properties sold fell from 6,694 in March 2009 to 6,161 in March 2010.
The average number of days to sell a house was 35, an improvement on the 40 days needed in March 2009.
On an annual basis, all twelve of the country’s twelve regions saw a rise in prices.
Annual New Zealand House Price Changes
Region
Median Price March 2010
Change since March 2009
Northland
$319,000
up 2.6 %
Auckland Region
$475,500
up 9.3 %
Waikato / Bay of Plenty / Gisborne
$320,000
up 3.2 %
Hawkes Bay
$270,250
up 2.0 %
Manawatu / Wanganui
$231,500
up 2.9 %
Taranaki
$280,000
up 8.5 %
Wellington Region
$409,000
up 8.8 %
Nelson / Marlborough
$337,000
up 5.3 %
Canterbury / Westland
$305,000
up 5.2 %
Central Otago Lakes
$440,000
up 1.1 %
Otago
$232,000
up 0.9 %
Southland
$191,750
up 5.4 %
New Zealand
$360,500
up 7.6 %
Runway end safety area taking shape
15th April 2010
Work is progressing on Queenstown Airport Corporation's runway end safety area (Resa), which is estimated to cost about $10 million.
Queenstown Airport manager Chris Read told the Queenstown Times last week construction had been about three weeks behind schedule.
"When we got the material out for the base, we didn't find exactly what we thought we would, but we'll make that [time] up."
About 850,000cu m in materials is being brought in for the resa - about 450,000cu m of that from Remarkables Park, with the remainder coming from the Shotover Delta and existing QAC land.
Mr Read said the work, being carried out by contractor Fulton Hogan, had run alongside the recent $5 million resealing of the main runway.
"It happened by chance ... It's puts the pressure on a bit, but the resa is a big project that won't be finished until October, 2011."
The fill from Remarkables Park was being carted along haul roads, constructed by the airport on its land.
The "toe" of the Resa, or base, was taking shape, with compacting of the material ensuring it was "strong and almost concretic".
The resa will be built in five levels, with each one stepped and, as per resource consent conditions, landscaped and drainage installed, Mr Read said.
Landscaping would cost "many, many hundreds of thousands of dollars".
He said 18 contractors were working five days a week to get the work done, but as it progressed closer to the main runway, work would be carried out at night.
QAC chief executive Steve Sanderson said initially the resa would be a grass surface, but there was a possibility it may be sealed and used as a "starter extension" in the future.
"[The resa] is only for under-shoot or over-shoot.
"We may seal the resa and it would be used as a starter extension, but aircraft cannot land on it," Mr Sanderson said.
Queenstown is leading the way in reclaiming international visitor guest nights, Statistics New Zealand revealed this week.
The nights international visitors spent in accommodation in New Zealand slumped after hitting a high in early 2008 but have been climbing in the last six months.
The February accommodation survey recorded a nationwide increase in overseas visitor stays of 6 per cent compared with last February. Otago and Wellington had the largest increases, but a further breakdown of statistics revealed Queenstown was far ahead of the national average, with an increase of 17.8 per cent.
That means international visitors stayed 151,054 guest nights in February last year and 177,881 guest nights in February this year – an increase of 26,872.
The survey collated information gathered from hotels, motels and apartments, backpacker accommodation and holiday parks nationally.
Queenstown's biggest rise was in motels and apartments, which recorded a rise of 11,966.
Queenstown Motel Association president Colin Chittock said the latest statistics were good news for Queenstown moteliers and accommodation providers, but also for the wider community.
"More visitors are good for us, and good for the town," he said.
"The first months of last year were pretty average, but visitor numbers from the start of the year onwards have been pretty healthy."
The increase in international visitors could be attributed to a lessening effect of the global economic crisis, and the strength of the Australian dollar, Mr Chittock said.
"There are a lot of Australians in town, but people from all over the globe seem to be here on holiday at the moment. All that matters is that they are here having a good time, and are frequently telling moteliers around Queenstown that this is one of the best holiday spots in the world," he said.
Queenstown Proves Itself Again As Summer Hotspot
13th April 2010
Source: www.scoop.co.nz
Queenstown Proves Itself Again As Summer Hotspot
Queenstown has wrapped up summer with a trifecta – once again scoring the largest increase in guest nights in the country.
Latest figures from Statistics New Zealand’s Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) show the resort’s guest nights were up 19,000 or 8.8 per cent in February compared to the same period last year, making the total this month 234,378. This follows on from topping the NZ guest night statistics also in December and January.
Destination Queenstown Chief Executive Tony Everitt says these results are fantastic on the back of what could have been a potentially tough season.
“Well done to the industry on another solid month in our post economic-downturn recovery,” he says.
“Looking ahead, the outlook is also positive. At the same time, we also need to be a little cautious as we head into our low season. ”
According to the February CAM, international guest nights in Queenstown were up 17.8 per cent to 177,881 compared with February 2009 and international guests accounted for 75.9 per cent of all guest nights. However, domestic guest nights were down 12.3 per cent to 56,497.
“This data really shows how successful DQ and the industry have been in marketing Queenstown internationally, particularly in Australia, as an exciting holiday destination,” Mr Everitt says.
“A joint venture with Air New Zealand meant DQ was able to further build on our spring and summer campaign in Australia. This partnership enabled us to extend the frequency and reach of our print and online advertising campaigns across the Tasman.”
As a result of the Australian campaigns, DQ’s website www.queenstown-nz.co.nz experienced massive growth during the three-month advertising period which ran in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from September to November.
The advertising campaign used DQ’s website as a direct call to action and resulted in a whopping 200 per cent increase of Australian traffic compared to the same period the year before – and alongside this there was a 55 per cent increase in traffic to the website overall.
$5 million runway work done
12th April 2010
It took four weeks, about 28 contract staff, 20,000 litres of bitumen and 4000 litres of diesel per night, 20,000 tonnes of asphalt and cost $5 million. The result: Queenstown Airport now has a perfect runway.
Queenstown Airport Corporation chief executive Steve Sanderson said the main runway was resealed every 10 years as part of the airport's repair and maintenance programme.
The 2km-long runway was "milled" by contractor Fulton Hogan in 100m sections each night, and a new surface put on with the help of a pave set machine.
Mr Sanderson said before work began a month ago, 1200 letters were dropped in mailboxes advising Frankton residents of the resealing project.
There had been just one complaint, he said.
"We really appreciate the residents putting up with the noise. There was quite a bit of vibration noise overnight, but it won't happen again for the next 10 years."
During the work, the runway was closed after the final flight each night, with sections of 100m "milled".
Airport manager Chris Read said a mobile plant, owned by contractor Fulton Hogan, was used for the project. Sections of runway were mapped, using GPS technology, on a pave set machine which automatically determined which areas needed to be cut or filled to create a level runway.
Once the mapping was done the plant mixed about five different grades of gravels, from fine dust to thick gravel, to make Airport Mix 20, used for runways.
Sections were done once to level the surface and then again to build the thickness to 110mm, Mr Read said.
Mr Sanderson said the new seal was slightly thicker than the one it had replaced, which would be recycled and used to create a ring road around the inside of the airport landing area.
Each day a core sample of the runway from 30 different spots was sent to Alexandra for testing to ensure the pave set machine had the right measurements.
Mr Sanderson said the contractor would carry out a foreign object debris (Fod) check and then conduct an "emu parade, which is like a police line" to check further for any stray bits of debris.
Queenstown Airport staff would also complete a Fod check, he said.
Feedback on the new runway had been very positive, with pilots reporting it was a "nice, smooth surface".
Property plans 'a sign of hope'
12th April 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Two new subdivision applications lodged with Lakes Environmental are a sign confidence is returning in Queenstown after the recession, developers say.
Developer Buzz March has applied for consent to subdivide and create 15 lots at 131 Arthurs Point Rd.
Meanwhile, Moreteon Investments Ltd has applied to subdivide and create 23 lots at Oxford St, Kingston.
Mr March said he had decided to build the low density development because he believed the mood was more positive in the resort than last year.
"I believe the times are coming right, there are a lot of positive things with Queenstown and having the airport and all the flights from Australia is marvellous," he said.
Caution was still advised but Queenstown and New Zealand needed positive development and investment to stimulate the economy, he said.
The Arthurs Point development would feature house and land packages at mid-range prices, Mr March said.
Remarkables Park director Alastair Porter said there was definitely confidence coming back in the Queenstown business community.
The resort was based on tourism, so it was important to bring visitors in and reports of good advance bookings from Australia for the ski season was great news, he said.
While the two subdivisions were small, the people behind them were experienced developers who would not be moving forward unless they were confident, he said.
"I think you're right. I think the town is slowly picking up it's confidence and I think it's a good thing if it does it slowly. I don't think we need another rush of blood to the head in this town with mega-developments," he said.
The Kingston application is the first since the Queenstown Lakes District Council's Plan Change 25 for Kingston Special Zone was ratified on March 18, rezoning 88ha of land to extend the township.
Moreteon Investments' application says the 6.39ha subdivision would be a gateway to the plan change site and include a commercial lot with an office and cafe.
"Future development is considered inevitable in Kingston, following the ratification of Plan Change 25," it says.
"To ensure that the township becomes more self-sufficient, additional commercial activity and a more permanent population base are required."
Qtown bookings well up on 2009
8th April 2010
Queenstown hotel and apartment operators are predicting a bumper winter, with some early bookings already ahead as much as 40 per cent on last year's strong season.
This follows a report by The Southland Times last week that ski package bookings by Australians were more than 20 per cent ahead of the corresponding time last year.
Rydges Lakeland Resort general manager John McIlwain said yesterday bookings for his 255-room property were excellent compared with last year – "and it was a very good year".
"We're up about 40 per cent – and that's conservative – on last year, and they're mostly Aussies," Mr McIlwain said.
Australians probably made up 65 per cent of his hotel's winter bookings so far.
It was normal to expect strong bookings hot on the tail of a bumper winter season such as last year but the Australians were getting "30 per cent better bang for their buck", thanks to the favourable exchange rate, he said.
Also, Queenstown branch chairman for the New Zealand Hotel Council, Mr McIlwain said there was a similar trend through all Queenstown hotels.
"Indications are from other hotels and apartments they're all up on last year."
The Winter Olympics had definitely prompted the Aussies to get booking their Queenstown ski holidays and most hotels and apartments say July and August were definitely the busiest months.
The Glebe apartments general manager Anne Henley said they were "pretty much fully booked" for July and August – 90 per cent of those guests were Australians.
She had been turning travel agents away wanting bookings because many Australian guests tended to rebook each year as they left, she said.
"There's a lot more demand this year – it's cheaper to ski in New Zealand than Australia."
Even if the snow conditions were not great, the Australians knew there were plenty of adventure activities in Queenstown.
Aussies were sending the Queenstown message out loud and clear when they got home. "They're coming because the next door neighbour had such a good time," Ms Henley said.
New Zealand was becoming "such a big destination for Australians now".
Some also spent a night in Te Anau and maybe headed over to Wanaka, often skipping the North Island altogether.
"It's just getting more popular. People can't get over how organised the town (Queenstown) is, the operators, the professionalism of the trips – there's been a lot of good feedback."
Base Backpackers manager Matt Hirst said his early ski bookings were also up, 25 per cent compared with last winter.
Top end of the property 'food chain' thriving
7th April 2010
Two plush Wellington apartments have sold for high prices, as top-end properties continue to defy the sluggish general market.
A penthouse apartment in the Chaffers Dock development, 602-22 Herd St, is understood to have sold at rateable value of $3.5 million. It follows the sale of another Chaffers Marina penthouse in February to a Wellington couple for over $4m.
Also last week a character apartment at 350 Oriental Parade sold "at or well above" its rateable value of $2.7m. The vendors were David and interior designer Wendy Bradford, a source said.
Nicholas Reeve of Remax said the prospect of a recovery in luxury home sales was still "a bit touchy".
"There's never an oversupply at that price level. The higher up the food chain, the more discerning people are."
However, Mr Reeve said people came out of the woodwork for properties with facilities like double garaging or private access, which were taken for granted elsewhere but not common in Wellington central.
Reports coming out of Auckland suggest that multimillion-dollar homes have been gaining more interest, although one property expert said the trend would not necessarily translate across the board.
In Wellington, sales of $1m-plus homes dived 53 per cent between their peak in 2007 and 2009, compared to 47 per cent nationally.
But Tommy's Real Estate, which handles many high-end sales in Wellington, said it had seen a lot of activity in the last 18 months.
"A lot of very expensive properties have come to market over the last 18 months, ones that haven't been to market in a long time, and there's a lack of fantastic properties in Wellington," agent Charles Morley-Hall said.
His firm had sold a dozen million-dollar homes in the last month, and last week a house in Roseneath Tce had sold for just under $6m. Three more went under offer for $2m to $2.5m and a house in Grass St, near Oriental Parade, went just before Christmas for nearly $4m.
"That part of the market is incredibly active."
Mr Morley-Hall said his firm was also pricing up some apartments in the concept stage with values of between $7m and $15m.
Often the buyers of these properties were Wellingtonians moving around the city, according to their needs, he said.
The vendors were rarely forced to sell, but often responded to good prices down the street.
"When people with money see expensive houses coming to market it can give them confidence to do the same thing."
Kawarau Falls II leaves $9m hole
7th April 2010
Source: The Southland Times
The second-stage of Queenstown's troubled Kawarau Falls development was never built but still managed to rack up more than $9 million in overdue bills, none of which are expected to be paid.
Peninsula Rd Ltd, which owned stage two and three of the billion-dollar Kawarau Falls hotel development, was placed into receivership by United States high-risk lender Fortress Credit Corporation on March 2 and is understood to owe more than $100m.
Following the receivership, the company was placed into liquidation on March 24 and the first liquidator's report reveals more than 50 unsecured creditors sitting behind big lenders Allied Farmers, Bank of Scotland International and Fortress Credit Corporation.
Yesterday liquidator Chris Horton said these unsecured creditors were owed $9.14m but were unlikely to recover any money.
"There isn't any money to pay the (unsecured) creditors," he said.
Stage one was placed into receivership in May 2009 with the receivers, KordaMentha, continuing with the hotel and apartment development of stage one, spending another $64m. First mortgagee of stage one, Bank of Scotland International, was owed $180m by February, excluding interest accrued since the receivership.
The second and third stages of Kawarau Falls are nothing but a hole in the side of the hill next to the partially completed stage one but Peninsula Rd still owes $9.14m to 50 other creditors, including public relations firms, lawyers and even newspapers.
A question also remains around what happened to more than $100m Peninsula Rd owed to its three big lenders. Allied Farmers managing director Rob Alloway said yesterday he had yet to get an answer.
"We have no idea what happened to the money, we'd like to know what happened," he said.
While a substantial sum would have spent buying the land it's unclear where the rest of the money went, he said. Including stage one, Allied Farmers has an exposure of $88m at Kawarau Falls, inherited from Hanover Finance's loan book.
However, the company recently wrote down $99m of its Hanover loan book, with most of the drop coming from the "deteriorating conditions" at Kawarau Falls, Mr Alloway said.
Mr Alloway attributes the downfall of development to KordaMentha blowing the budget on completing stage one, dragging the later stages into receivership.
"It's an absolute train wreck." Kawarau Falls was owned by embattled Aucklander Nigel McKenna, who has recently had several other companies placed into liquidation by creditors seeking payment.
Tim Downes, of Grant Thorton New Zealand, receivers of Peninsula Rd, would not comment on what funds could be recovered, citing commercial sensitivity issues between the three big lenders.
The $1b Kawarau project was to have eventually included a conference centre and four hotels, plus several apartment buildings with a total of 1100 units.
Kawarau Falls was just one of many property development in Queenstown propped up by finance companies which have failed in the past two years.
More Aussie skiers coming
1st April 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Early ski season bookings by Australians heading to Queenstown this winter are more than 20 per cent ahead of the same time last year, according to Australian ski tour wholesalers.
The strong Aussie dollar and people with money to burn were behind the increase, they said.
Bookings were also being made much earlier this year, possibly because New Zealand ski package prices were about 7 per cent cheaper than last year, thanks to the favourable exchange rate.
Ski Express national sales manager Melissa Watt said from Sydney they were "thrilled" with the early booking pattern.
"Last year was about 20 per cent up on 2008 ... this year we're looking at well ahead of that level," she said.
There were good deals attracting interest – packages started about AU$1000 per person for a five-night ski holiday – because New Zealand packages were perceived as "very cheap".
The Australian economy was also doing well, Ms Watt said.
Employment was strong, expected job losses and entrenchment of the recession had not happened so Aussies were spending up big on holidays.
Wholesalers hoped the huge interest would continue until early bird specials ended on April 30.
Ski Max managing director Rodney Muller said yesterday ski bookings into Queenstown were "very buoyant at the moment" and trending well ahead of last year. Aussies were also booking much earlier
"We're double digits (percentage growth) up on the year before."
Traditionally, bookings coming off a strong northern hemisphere season, as had just been experienced, were slow, but that trend was the opposite this year.
The Winter Olympics in February had played a part in enthusing Aussies to book their ski holidays to Queenstown, Mr Muller said.
His company had 25 seats allocated on every Pacific Blue flight into Queenstown this winter and they were sold out except for the "back end" of the season in late September and early June.
"Generally, the Australian economy is overheating ... people are certainly spending money and we're feeling it."
NZ Ski chief executive James Coddington said there had been an increase in demand for online Queenstown ski holiday bookings.
"I think more people are wanting to come over, driven by the stronger Australian dollar, increased Australian flights and ongoing marketing," he said.
"And if we can believe the local farmers around the traps we're in for a very cold and long winter – if they're correct we'll be welcoming lots of Aussies with open arms," Mr Coddington said.
Hot styles grace charity catwalk
30th March 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Starring hoamz's very own Brendan Quill...
Hot styles for all seasons were displayed on the catwalk of the third annual Salvation Army Fashion Show on Friday afternoon.
TV3 correspondent Leanne Malcolm was the star among 16 Wakatipu models, who wore 100 brand new and pristine secondhand clothes and turned about 200 heads at Earnslaw Park.
Ms Malcolm modelled a new Trelise Cooper dress, which still had the original price tag of $675, but was sold for $55, the single most expensive item.
The price for most of the items ranged between $10 and $20.
A wide array of bargain-price clothes by top New Zealand and international designers were on show, including Prada, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Armani, Annah Stretton, Zambesi and Mary Quant, while personalities Craig "Ferg" Ferguson and Brendan Quill compered.
The finale was the wedding collection, featuring the "bride and groom", who were joined on the runway by all the models to a round of applause.
The five racks of clothes will be on sale, one rack at a time, in the Salvation Army's Clothing Outlet, on lower Shotover St, from today.
Glenda Patience, operations manager for army stores in the Queenstown Lakes district, said the show aimed to raise awareness of the quality of pre-loved goods at the Salvation Army.
"We're fortunate in Queenstown we have such generous residents and visitors. A lot of tourists here for a couple of weeks drop off stuff before they leave."
Captain Kenneth Walker said the Salvation Army depended entirely on donations from the public and members.
"The Clothing Outlet is a huge revenue stream and the fashion show is a great promotional tool.
It reminds the public of the stuff we've got and gives an opportunity to show how generous the community is and to say thank you very much."
Residential property sales improve in February
29th March 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Residential real estate sales for Queenstown picked up in February after a slow January.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Queenstown spokesman Adrian Snow said the market was "relatively healthy".
His figures showed 45 dwellings were sold in February in Queenstown and the Wakatipu Basin, compared with 26 in January.
One of the reasons for the low sales figures for January was the Government's discussion on tax law change for residential investment properties, he said.
Ten of the February sales were in Arrowtown.
Three sales were over $1 million, and the highest sale was about $3 million.
The average time it took to sell a property was 63 days for the February sales, compared with 67 days in January and 69 in February 2009.
The median sale price for dwellings was $519,500 in February, down from $531,250 in January, but up from $508,000 in February 2009.
Medium to long-term outlook positive in Queenstown
19th March 2010
Source: www.scoop.co.nz
The Queenstown property market is stabilising after sharp falls from the median sales price highs of autumn 2008.
“The Queenstown property market is very dynamic when compared to the main metropolitan areas of New Zealand,” says national valuation company Telfer Young’s Chris Stanley. “As a premium Australasian tourism destination, Queenstown’s property values react quickly to changes in both the domestic and global economies, so it has a more pronounced “boom-bust” cycle than major New Zealand cities. But its unique location and national and international standing as a destination means a positive medium to long-term outlook for property in the greater Queenstown area.”
Mr Stanley said Queenstown is currently suffering from an over supply in almost all property sectors but particularly in apartments, tourist accommodation and office space.
Residential market
“The median sale price for houses peaked in autumn 2008 at $594,000 falling through until mid 2009. The market then stabilised with the median price in late 2009 being $518,000, although sales volumes are still at low levels.
“The market for higher valued properties is subdued but there is good demand for lower priced property suitable for first home owners, and for premium properties.
Vacant residential sections and apartment prices remain relatively low by historical standards, Mr Stanley said.
“There has been a substantial fall in section values and a significant reduction in sales volumes. The apartment market has also gone through a price correction as well as a significant reduction in sales volumes, although there have been a number of mortgagee sales. Sales volumes peaked in the last 6 months of 2005 at 110 sales with sales in the last 6 months of 2009 totalling 25. The apartment market will also be affected by the completion of a number of developments currently under construction.”
Commercial and Industrial property
There has been a substantial increase in development in the centre of Queenstown over the last two years creating a significant increase in supply of retail and office accommodation.
“As a result, office rentals have fallen as more office space has come onto the market at a time of limited demand. These new developments have added approximately 17000m2 to the total retail and office stock. Retail rents have also softened however not to the extent of the office market. New retail leasings in Queenstown have achieved net rental rates ranging from $780/m2 to $1225/m2.”
Investment yields for commercial property have increased by around 1.0%.
Mr Stanley says that investor demand for good quality industrial property remains strong.
“Investment yields have eased, though, from the levels achieved at the market peak in early 2007.”
Queenstown set to treble visitor quota
16th March 2010
Source: NZ Herald
New Zealand's premier resort town is riding a wave of tourism growth, and considering how it might handle a trebling of visitor numbers in the next 20 years.
Although tourism suffered as a result of the global recession, and numbers from traditional markets such as Europe are still in decline, Queenstown has bounced back strongly because of buoyant visitor numbers from Australia.
The town's international airport is on course for record passenger numbers this financial year.
International visitor numbers are up 34 per cent, and the airport set a monthly record in January for passengers.
It is believed to be among the fastest growing in the world.
"We had advice 18 months ago... from Tourism New Zealand that there was the potential for a downturn in the order of 9 per cent in international visitor arrivals in New Zealand," said Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Clive Geddes.
"What that did for us - because we don't have any economic alternatives - was focus us very much on making sure that we committed more money into the Australian market, which we knew we could get a response from.
"And that's what we did, and I think that's now working for us."
Airlines are sharing in the push from local leaders.
Direct flights between Queenstown and Australia will increase this winter to 24 a week, from 16 last winter and 11 the winter before that.
"That's how quickly the Australian market is growing," Mr Geddes said.
Queenstown Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said the airport was expected to reach a record 790,000 passengers for the year to June 30.
As well as the increase in international flights out of the airport this winter, a 30 per cent increase in direct flights to Auckland to cater for domestic tourists and Japanese tourists was expected, Mr Sanderson said.
"Obviously we are very proud to be managing an airport which is probably the fastest growing airport outside of China, I would imagine. It's very exciting, and the town has responded to that."
Calculations by the district council showed the district, hosting 1.3 million visitors a year, would be hosting 4.3 million a year by 2030.
Mr Geddes said this was based on what had happened over the past 20 years, and did not take into account the effect changes in the global economy and oil prices might have.
"It's a model we have built so we can get some understanding of what the future may look like."
5-star retirees village planned
16th March 2010
Source: The Southland Times
An $80 million, five-star retirement village development has been granted resource consent for land at Remarkables Park.
International retirement village company Sanctuary Residences has been given the go-ahead for its 130-apartment, six-storey village, complete with a pool, gymnasium, restaurant, library and bowling green.
It will be the resort town's first.
Sanctuary Residences chief executive Richard Davis said last night the consent was great news and the company hoped to get construction under way and open as soon as possible.
The village would be built in stages and the flat, sunny Remarkables Park site was perfectly suited, close to medical and shopping amenities with great views.
"There is a need. When we looked at what's happening in Queenstown the only age-group population that is reducing is the over-70s because there's nowhere to live, so they leave," Mr Davis said.
The company's research also showed there were a lot of older people wanting to retire to Queenstown.
Prices for the apartments, which would be interlinked and under cover to ensure warmth during winter, would be "in keeping with the high end of the market in and around Queenstown".
The apartments, one-bedroom through to three-bedroom, would probably range between $500,000 and $900,000.
Residents would buy a licence to occupy.
Sanctuary Residences operated a retirement village on Waiheke Island and three villages in London. It had a fully consented site in Remuera, in Auckland, two further London sites consented and two sites for development in Australia.
Mr Davis said Remarkables Park had already begun work on putting in the infrastructure necessary for the development.
Statistics New Zealand's Subnational Population Projections report released last month projects Queenstown Lakes will have the fastest growth rate in the country. The district's 65-years-plus population is expected to more than treble in the 25 years from 2006 to 2031, the report says.
Building work gets back into high gear
16th March 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Work will begin to double the size of the Remarkables Park Town Centre development at Frankton in the next few months.
Remarkables Park director Alastair Porter said last night Queenstown was "back on a steady growth projection" after a slow couple of years, with interest from commercial and retail tenants picking up dramatically since Christmas.
"Interest has definitely picked up. Queenstown had a good winter (in 2009) and Queenstown has again had a good summer, which appears to have given people a lot of confidence locally and nationally," Mr Porter said.
There had been a lot more interest from commercial showrooms, national and local retailers and local buyers wanting to buy land for development.
"Development is always hard work but we are constantly working towards new projects."
Earthworks were about to begin to double the size of the existing shopping centre in the next three or four weeks with more larger shops and a few smaller ones. He hoped all the necessary approvals could be secured to proceed with construction on that by the end of this year.
Construction would get under way on a new Remarkables Park Town Centre 1100sq m store in six tenancies in front of Noel Leemings next month.
A new three-level, 1800 sqm, commercial building, incorporating a cafe and retail premises, would get under way next to the Remarkables Park BNZ Bank by the end of May.
The existing shopping centre could handle double its capacity, Mr Porter said.
The company had also just sold a large 2000sq m site next to the Wakatipu New World and the new owners were working on development plans already.
Another two large sites, 1.3ha and 1.2ha, were being negotiated for sale.
On the opposite side of Queenstown Airport, Remarkable's Park's sister company Shotover Park was now well into the development of its second 14ha stage, which was one third sold, with another third under negotiation. That land had been largely bought by local companies, Mr Porter said.
Remarkables Park still had more than 100ha of land left for high density development, education, a village resort, parks and recreation, Mr Porter said.
Queenstown getting more visitors
15th March 2010
Temperatures might have dropped in Queenstown this week but latest figures show the resort was continuing to have a "scorching" summer as far as guest nights go – again recording the largest increase in the country.
Statistics New Zealand's Commercial Accommodation Monitor released yesterday shows the resort's guest nights increased by 33,000 in January to 271,643, up 14 per cent on January last year.
Wanaka guest nights were down 1 per cent for the month at 101,844, while Central Otago guest nights took the biggest hit, down 16.3 per cent for the month to 79,040, the figures show.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said Queenstown was continuing to have a scorching summer and the January figures, coupled with December's 24,000 guest night increase, were "truly fantastic results".
January was a record month for New Zealand with overnight stays in commercial accommodation up by 4 per cent, compared with January last year. The month's guest night numbers of 4.4million were the highest recorded since the monitor survey began in 1996.
Queenstown's international visitors accounted for 68.1 per cent of guest nights, up 17.2 per cent, compared with January 2009, to 185,105. Domestic guest nights increased by 7.6 per cent to 86,538.
The figures also show that Queenstown's overall occupancy rate rose from 56.6 per cent to 66.6 per cent and the average length of stay rose slightly from 2.3 nights to 2.31 nights.
Mr Everitt said the local tourism industry was doing a great job this summer, achieving positive growth in what had been a challenging economic climate.
He said he hoped DQ could keep the momentum going, successfully marketing the resort nationally and internationally.
DQ chairman Mark Quickfall said last winter had been "quite astounding", with Australian numbers well up during the ski season.
Those big numbers of Australians visitors had continued throughout the summer.
It was encouraging for Queenstown operators that national predictions of a year ago of a 20 to 30 per cent drop in business for New Zealand tourism operators this summer had not eventuated.
Even though operators were "not doing backward somersaults when compared with the double-digit growth of a few years ago, the resort was enjoying a relatively strong summer.
Queenstown airport expects record passenger numbers
11th March 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown airport was expected to clock a record 790,000 passengers by the end of this financial year, the airport's chief executive Steve Sanderson told the resort's tourism industry yesterday.
The airport was expecting a total of 690,000 domestic passengers and 100,000 international passengers through its arrivals lounge for the year ending June 30. International passengers were up 34 per cent so far this financial year, thanks to an increase in Australian visitors.
Domestic seat capacity was down 1 per cent but loadings were up 78 per cent.
The airport's 16 international flights a week last winter would expand to 24 flights a week this winter, Mr Sanderson said.
The corporation expected to invest $25m in the airport during the next five years, with $8m allocated to its compulsory (RESA) runway extensions, which had to be in place by next year.
It would cost the corporation an estimated $1m to implement new noise boundaries for the airport.
Mr Sanderson also urged hoteliers to be more vocal in supporting the corporation's proposed plan change to extend its operating hours from 10pm till midnight.
PROJECTIONS
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes told Queenstown hoteliers yesterday that council modelling showed: wthe district was likely to be hosting 4.3m visitors by 2030, up from 1.3m annually now wthe district's population now was between 32,000 and 33,000 – 26,000 of those residents wthe district's population doubles to 71,000 during Christmas and January peak holidays – that will double to 140,000 by 2030.
Recession lets Queenstown hotels off lightly
11th March 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown hotels contributed $52 million to the region's economy last year, the resort's tourism industry representatives were told at the New Zealand Hotel Council's annual operating survey presentation yesterday.
Queenstown's 20 New Zealand Hotel Council member properties generated $97 million in revenue last year, from a total of 2300 rooms, and employed 1200 people.
Council independent chair Jennie Langley said of the $52m retained locally, $28.5m was spent on wages, $7.4m on food and beverage, $7.6m on room expenses, $4.9m on utilities and waste, $3.3m on sales and marketing and $1.5m on rates and insurance.
Ms Langley said New Zealanders accounted for 37.6 per cent of all rooms sold in Queenstown, followed by Australians at 26.9 per cent.
Hoteliers around the country had been challenged by fewer international arrivals, increased last-minute bookings and the outbreak of swine flu forcing cancellations.
However, the horizon looked much brighter, especially with the Rugby World Cup, an opportunity that should be maximised next year, she said.
Economic researcher Shane Vuletich, of Covec, said although the recession had meant yields were down with fewer "high rollers" into New Zealand hotels last year, Queenstown had fared extremely well with 106,000 more Australians visiting.
Australians bought 27 per cent of hotel room nights last year – they bought 19 per cent elsewhere in New Zealand.
This had offset the drop in some traditional long haul markets, he said. Queenstown had done proportionately better attracting international tourists than elsewhere in New Zealand.
Free independent travellers (FITs) accounted for about 58 per cent of Quenstown room nights, injecting $32,000 a room a yearinto the economy which was "pretty significant", Mr Vuletich said.
"Queenstown does it well, more efficiently, you seem to get more out of your workers than some other regions, I am not suggesting you underpay, you're just more efficient," he said.
Queenstown had got away "pretty lightly" compared with the rest of the country and appeared to have emerged from the recession more quickly.
Hotel rates were likely to return to normal levels and "confidence bodes well over the next year for Queenstown", Mr Vuletich said.
ROOM AT THE INN
Queenstown hotels had come through a difficult year better than most, achieving: 5th highest annual occupancy rate in NZ at 63 per cent; 4th out of eight NZ regions for average room rate at $132.70; Average room rate equalled 3.3 per cent less than 2008, but national drop was 5.7 per cent
Pacific Blue announces direct Brisbane-Queenstown flights
5th March 2010
Source: voxy.co.nz
Pacific Blue will be flying Queensland skiers straight to the slopes this winter with two direct flights a week from Brisbane to New Zealand's ski capital of Queenstown from the end of June.
The seasonal flights on Fridays and Sundays will double Pacific Blue's international services into the winter resort, which are currently two flights a week from Sydney.
The Brisbane-Queenstown flights will begin on 25 June and the last seasonal service will be on 12 September, providing a total of 22 return ski flights and adding over 3,000 seats to the Queenstown market from Australia.
To celebrate the new services the airline is inviting Queensland snow bunnies to hop aboard early with internet sale fares available now from just AU$249* one-way, available until midnight 11 March or sold out. Regular lead-in internet fares will start at AU$289* one-way.
Queenstown-Brisbane fares are also on sale today for the seasonal services at NZ$249* one-way, available now until midnight 11 March or sold out. Regular lead-in fares start at NZ$289* one-way.
Pacific Blue CEO Mark Pitt said that many Queensland skiers were already using the airline's services to Christchurch and then driving to Queenstown. "These seasonal services will give Queenslanders a low fare, direct option to enjoy the ski fields in Queenstown and in nearby Wanaka."
Despite considerable competition in the short-haul market to and from New Zealand, Pacific Blue said it believed that there continued to be growth opportunities such as the seasonal services it was announcing today.
"Starting at the end of March we're increasing our Christchurch-Brisbane flights from the current seven to ten flights a week and we've confirmed our Wellington-Sydney services at four flights a week, up from three flights when we launched last September," Mark Pitt added.
"We believe Kiwis and Aussies are now very comfortable with the choices that low-fare travel offers because they can spend less in the air and more when they get there."
Mark Pitt predicted that both the trans-Tasman and Pacific markets could see further moves from legacy carriers to match the low fares offered by Pacific Blue.
"Full-service airlines world-wide are trying to find low-cost solutions to the way they do business and offering no-frills fares as part of their product mix is one option they're considering.
"This underlines what Pacific Blue has known all along - that people want a high quality service with value-for-money fares and are happy to pay for only the extras they want."
Hole and back
5th March 2010
Source: Mountain Scene
The new owner of Queenstown’s infamous “Hendo’s Hole” eyesore will shell out megabucks to fill most of it back in.
The 2.4 ha site on Frankton’s outskirts was dug out for a massive, two-level underground carpark to service embattled Christchurch developer Dave Henderson’s ambitious Five Mile township.
About 350,000 cubic metres – some 50,000 truckloads – of earth was removed four years ago before Henderson’s plans to build a $2 billion gateway township for 10,000 people fell over.
Now new owner, Auckland developer Tony Gapes, will dig deep to fill it back in – possibly even using the same dirt.
He estimates the refill alone will cost about $1.5 million.
It’s quite a bit of cash, Gapes concedes.
“Especially since someone’s paid to dig the hole and now we’re putting it back in.”
Gapes’s company Queenstown Gateway bought the site as part of Five Mile’s 7.8ha stage one late last year and has earmarked it for a supermarket. He paid $21m, Mountain Scene understands.
To meet his downsized development plans, Gapes expects to fill in the hole’s bottom half and half of its upper slice, still leaving underground parking for 300 to 400 vehicles.
Perfectly poised to refill “Hendo’s Hole” is Christchurch contractor Buzz March, who excavated it in the first place.
His company, March Construction, scattered what it removed over the 23ha balance of the Five Mile site, on the other side of Grant Road.
March claims he still owns the fill as part of his original contract with Henderson.
March says he’s happy to negotiate a contract with Gapes, who’s already had a discussion with March’s son Guy.
“The fill we have there is handy and ready,” March says.
“It stands to commonsense to fill it from the closest resource, and the closest resource is the fill that we own. “We’d just be looking at a fair market value for it.”
Henderson reportedly owed March Construction about $300,000 for the 2006 dig, but March says the two parties settled.
Gapes won’t comment on whether he’ll re-employ March to refill the hole.
But Gapes questions whether March still owns the fill.
“Under property law you own what’s attached to the land,” Gapes says.
Mountain Scene understands Gapes has an option to buy Five Mile’s remaining 23ha
Five Mile’s makeover
Tony Gapes admits his Five Mile stage one plans are far less ambitious than Dave Henderson’s failed township.
“But to be fair, in the last couple of years the market has changed an enormous amount,” he says.
The anchor tenant will be a 4000-5000sq m Countdown supermarket – brand owner Progressive Enterprises is Gapes’s first mortgage holder.
The balance of his 4ha site will comprise “a large retail component, a reasonable residential component and probably a small amount of offices”.
“We’ve contacted all sorts of retailers and had a pretty positive response from all types,” Gates says. Real estate company Colliers International is seeking expressions of interest from national and international retailers.
Brisbane architect Peter Zillman has been engaged, but Gapes says the design will also be dictated by Queenstown Lakes District Council and its urban design panel.
“It will be a good-looking Queenstown development but we ourselves don’t know what it looks like yet.” He hopes the supermarket will be open by the middle of next year.
He’s unsure whether to keep the Five Mile name: “I don’t know whether it’s been tainted.”
Hotel rates hold value in slump
4th March 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown hotel room prices have weathered the global plunge in room rates caused by the worldwide recession, industry experts said.
Figures released by Hotels.com on Tuesday show the average price of hotel rooms dropped by 14 per cent globally from 2008 to 2009, making them equal with the price of a room in 2003.
New Zealand Hotel Council independent chairwoman Jennie Langley yesterday said the Hotels.com report came from broad data that did not differentiate between types of hotels and markets, and Queenstown had coped well in the face of such statistics.
"New, unfinalised figures show that the average rate per room sold in Queenstown from 2008 to 2009 dropped by about 3 per cent compared with a New Zealand-wide average of about 5.5 per cent," she said.
The Hotels.com report shows the global price plunge for hotel rooms started to slow towards the end of 2009.
But New Zealand Hotel Council Queenstown regional chairman John McIlwain yesterday said the resort's hotel room prices had started to recover sooner because of factors including a strong Tourism New Zealand campaign, a good snowfall, an exchange rate favourable to Australian visitors and exposure gained for the Queenstown Winter Festival by Destination Queenstown.
Occupancy figures had shown a decline in the number of United States and United Kingdom visitors during 2009, but Australian visitors became a mainstay of the local tourist economy, Mr McIlwain said.
"The Australian market has been huge, and we have not suffered as much as other destinations because of that."
Queenstown's early recovery signs looked hopeful for a continued climb in hotel room prices, but had not escaped the effects of the worldwide recession, he said.
"Queenstown was under the same pressure as any other destination around the world in the previous 12 months, but it is pleasing to see prices rebounding as we move into 2010."
10 parties appeal rezoning of Frankton Land
3rd March 2010
Ten appellants are proceeding to the Environment Court against the Queenstown Lakes District Council's plan change for Frankton.
Plan change 19 Frankton Flats B is the land between Queenstown Airport, Glenda Dr industrial area, State Highway 6 and Frankton Flats.
Source: Otago Daily Times
The change would rezone the land to allow for educational, residential, visitor accommodation, commercial, industrial, business and recreational activities.
Queenstown Airport Corporation, Trojan Holdings Ltd, Manapouri Beech Investments Ltd, Foodstuffs, Five Mile Holdings, FM Custodians, Air New Zealand, Remarkables Park, Shotover Park and Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust have lodged appeals to the Environment Court.
Judge Jon Jackson set a timetable for evidence to be exchanged at a pre-hearing conference at the Queenstown District Court yesterday.
The council's lawyer Jayne McDonald told the court the appellants' issues included large format retail activities, location of the eastern arterial road, roading and transport, and boundaries.
The parties were in mediation talks, but if agreement could not be reached a hearing would be held later this year.
A pre-hearing conference was also held yesterday into the appeal against the Queenstown Lakes District Council's decision to grant resource consent to the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Dunedin to build a school on Speargrass Flat Rd.
The consent approved the $3 million 112-pupil primary school with 22 conditions.
Ayburn Farm Estates Ltd and a group of residents including Gemma and Glenn Davis and Jane and Mark Taylor have appealed the decision to the Environment Court.
Judge Jackson set an evidence timetable at the conference and said a hearing would not take place before June.
Queenstown airport tops growth
3rd March 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown Airport is the fastest-growing airport in New Zealand and Australia, according to new figures.
Queenstown Airport chairman Mark Taylor presented figures at a Queenstown Lakes District Council finance and corporate accountability committee meeting yesterday that showed a big increase in international and domestic passengers arriving in the resort.
In the six months to December, domestic passengers increased by almost 30,000 compared with the same period in 2008.
International passengers grew by almost 15,000 between the same periods, and scheduled international flights increased by 57.
Mr Taylor said the figures made the airport the fastest growing in New Zealand and Australia – despite the airport not actively seeking additional flights.
"Airlines have continued to feed the capacity for the trans-Tasman market and passengers have continued to fill the seats," he said.
A $6 million runway overlay project began this week and construction on a runway end safety area is expected to be completed before the Civil Aviation Authority deadline of October 2011.
A taxiway for heavy aircraft that will improve traffic flow after landings is in the early stages of development. "It could become a point of contention with airlines if we have to start stacking planes in the air to cope with forecasted growth in the trans-Tasman area," Mr Taylor said.
Cr Gillian Macleod said the rapid expansion of the airport needed to incorporate the well-being of Frankton residents.
"The airport is very successful economically, but there is room for improvement in the area of sociably sustainable growth," she said.
"Queenstown Airport will draw a lot more workers in the future, and getting them to and from the airport may involve looking at public transport options for them. Issues such as this will become more apparent as (the airport) becomes surrounded by Frankton," she said.
Mr Taylor said noise boundary issues and the airport's operational hours would be worked through in future hearings of plan change 35.
"These will be worked through with the council, community and our neighbours," he said.
Submissions for the district council plan change, which seeks to amend existing noise boundaries and introduce a new night-time noise boundary enabling aircraft to land until midnight, close on Friday.
Record year for forced property sales
1st March 2010
Source: TVNZ
The number of forced sales in New Zealand last year reached the highest levels since records began, with an average of more than eight mortgagee sales every day.
The data, released by Terralink International on Sunday, showed there were 3,024 registered mortgagee sales during 2009. That compared to 1,303 in 2008 and 475 in 2007.
Mike Donald, Terralink managing director, said the phenomenal number of mortgagee sales was a clear indicator of the effect of the global recession on New Zealanders.
"In the last two years we've seen the number of mortgagee sales rise by over 500%," he said.
"In 2008 the number of mortgagee sales rose sharply, but 2009 has seen even those record numbers double. Property owners are hurting, there were over
50 forced sales every week last year."
Donald said initially it was properties owned by overstretched investors and development companies that made up the bulk of mortgagee sales.
"As the recession deepened, servicing multiple mortgages or gaining continuing access to credit became harder or impossible, and these owners were forced to sell.
"Later as unemployment began to rise we saw individual property owners increasingly feel the pinch. These owners often with only one property or what we think of as 'mums and dad' home owners made up an increasing percentage of owners that were facing a mortgagee sale," he said.
Donald said a mortgagee sale was often the last resort after a whole chain of events such as a job loss, loss of investments, or reduced cashflow in small businesses.
"That's why we expect it will be many, many months until the number of mortgagee sales drop to pre-recession numbers," he said.
September 2009 saw the highest number of mortgagee sales, 343, since records were first kept in 1994. The fewest mortgagee sales in 2009 were in February with 124.
"The worst affected areas were the regions that include our biggest cities, Auckland and Canterbury.
"In 2007 there were 197 mortgagee sales in Auckland, compared to 519 in 2008 and 1274 in 2009. In Canterbury in 2007 there were 45 mortgagee sales, compared to 120 in 2008 and 329 in 2009," Donald said.
The hardest hit smaller regions were Northland up from 28 mortgagee sales in 2007 to 222 in 2009, and Hawke's Bay up from 17 mortgagee sales in 2007 to 131 in 2009.
Donald said he did not expect the number of mortgagee sales to start to decline significantly until at least the last quarter of 2010.
Terralink derives its mortgagee sales data from legal registrations of actual mortgagee sales.
Queenstown preparing for booming population
26th February 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown and Auckland are studying the implications of latest projections which point to a population explosion over the next 20 years.
Statistics New Zealand figures show the Auckland region population will experience 60 percent of the nation's growth, taking its population from 1.37 million to 1.94 million over that time.
This means that the City of Sails will be home to 38 percent of New Zealanders.
The Queenstown region population is predicted to grow by 2.2 percent a year -- the highest growth rate in the country.
If the forecasts prove accurate, Queenstown's population will increase from 24,100 to 41,700 by 2031, with the number of people over the age of 65 tripling.
Auckland Regional Council's planning committee chairman Paul Walbren said planning was under way but there was still a risk the city's infrastructure would not be ready to match the population growth, especially in terms of transport. Queenstown Lakes District Council said it had done an independent analysis of the resort's population growth, which took into account visitor numbers.
Current numbers would double by 2026, said Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes.
"Queenstown's average day population of around 35,000, will double to around 70,000, and our peak population, which is district-wide, will rise from 70,000 to around 140,000 by 2026," he told the Southland Times. Mr Geddes said preparation for growth was something the council had been prepared for, for a long time.
Of New Zealand's 73 territorial authority areas, 44 are projected to have more people in 2031 than in 2006.
However, population growth will generally slow over the projection period because of the narrowing gap between births and deaths.
Queenstown set for highest growth
25th February 2010
Source: The Southland Times
The Queenstown Lakes district is tipped to have the highest growth rate in the country by 2031.
Statistics New Zealand yesterday issued population projections for the country.
Projections for the 25 years from 2006 to 2031 predict national population growth will generally slow down because of the narrowing gap between births and deaths.
But Queenstown looks set to flip that trend by increasing its population by 2.2 per cent per year, boosting the resort's 2006 population of 24,100 to 41,700 in 2031.
The Subnational Population Projections report states that all territorial authority areas will have more older people in the future, and the Queenstown Lakes district's population of people aged over 65 will triple by 2031.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has done an independent analysis of Queenstown's population growth, which takes in the number of visitors to the resort.
Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes said yesterday current numbers would double by 2026.
"Queenstown's average day population of around 35,000 will double to around 70,000, and our peak population, which is district-wide, will rise from 70,000 to around 140,000 by 2026," he said.
Mr Geddes said the council figures were based on an unconstrained growth model but accepted there could be popula-tion constraints between now and 2026.
"The QLDC is not prepared to guess what those constraints could be.
"We don't want people to run out of water in 2020 because in 2010 the council had a guess at what the population might be, and the 2001 and 2006 censuses have reinforced our figures."
Mr Geddes said Queenstown had a very disjointed demographic profile, with the highest percentage of people between the ages of 17 and 35 countrywide, and one of the lowest percentages of people aged 55 and over.
Mr Geddes said preparation for growth was something the council had been prepared for for a long time.
"All of the council's infrastructure works for the next 10 years and the 10 years after that are driven by those population projections, and every three to four years we review our progress."
Mr Geddes said if population growth slowed, so did the rate at which the council put in infrastructure services but, if it grew, the council would adjust to put in amenities earlier.
Queenstown substation built with room to grow
25th February 2010
Source: The Southland Times
A new electricity substation in Queenstown, designed to grow with the resort's power consumption needs, opened yesterday.
The $6 million substation, owned by Aurora Energy, is not recognisable from the outside as a high-level electricity distribution centre.
Aurora Energy chairman Ray Polson said the design was a step towards future-proofing Queenstown's electricity supply.
"When we started looking at expansion within the region, it was clear that the growth was going to continue," he said.
"So when a new substation was required, we looked 50 years into the future rather than the normal short term, and we've got room for further expansion as the area is subdivided and the population grows."
Room for another three switchboards has been allowed within the substation structure, which Mr Polson estimated could cope with population growth during the next 100 years.
The substation was opened by Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Lowest house sales in 10 years
16th February 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Property sales in Queenstown for January were the lowest in 10 years, figures show.
The Real Estate Institute's Queenstown spokesman Adrian Snow said last month had abnormally low inquiry levels and significantly low sales.
"For real estate agents, it seemed like a very long holiday period.
January 2010 recorded 26 residential dwelling sales, which represents a significant low, with the last month that a lower figure was recorded being December 2000," he said.
However, Queenstown figures were better than the national sales figures, which hit a 20-year low.
Mr Snow said the Queenstown market changed in December from a relatively buoyant period to very low buying activity.
"The Christmas holiday period usually reduces December to about two weeks of normal real estate activity, but it appears that even this may not have been achieved this year," he said.
However, new properties had come on in January and these would add stimulus.
It was still a buyers' market.
Any property priced at what buyers regarded as "above the market" was not selling.
Twenty-six houses sold in January, down from December's 42 sales and and 43 in January 2009.
Apartment sales remained "sluggish", with only two sales last month.
Seven sold in December and six in January 2009.
Section sales had been relatively stable.
Eight sold in January, and 11 in December and 11 in January 2009.
Median prices were also relatively stable.
In January the median house price was $531,250, compared to $481,000 in December and $560,000 in January last year.
Resorts' guest nights up
15th February 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Queenstown and Wanaka enjoyed a good start to the summer, with the two lakeside resort towns delivering record guest night numbers for December.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand's Commercial Accommodation Monitor show the Wakatipu region recorded 218,194 bed nights for the month, up 24,000 nights, or 12.1 per cent, compared with the corresponding period in 2008.
The increase was the largest in New Zealand, the country as a whole having recorded a 4.4 per cent increase of 137,000 nights for December.
Queenstown's international and domestic guest nights were both up on December 2008, with jumps of 14.8 per cent (157,180 nights) and 5.8 per cent (61,014 nights), respectively. Figures also showed that hotel occupancy had also increased 13.8 per cent.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said the results reinforced the resort's position as a premier year-round holiday destination.
Meanwhile, Wanaka experienced record numbers of visitor nights for December, with increases across both markets.
A total of 63,870 visitors stayed in the town, up 30.5 per cent on December 2008. Most of that growth was from Kiwis taking holidays in the town, with domestic nights up 78 per cent. International nights rose 4.6 per cent.
House prices fall in Central, Qtown-Lakes Region
15th February 2010
Source: The Southland Times
Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes district were the only areas in the country where house prices fell last month, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand report.
A Queenstown-based valuer yesterday said the regional housing market, driven by holiday homes and lifestyle blocks, was more susceptible to a sustained downturn because the boom times were so good.
The REINZ report says the Central Otago/Lakes region suffered a drop in the January median price, falling 10.4 per cent to $410,000.
Hamish Goldfinch, of Moore & Percy property valuers in Queenstown, said the REINZ report was an accurate indication of prices.
During the property boom, at its height in 2007, the resort town's house prices were inflated much more than other regions.
"We've suffered from over-inflation beyond other areas and we've a long way to fall back," he said.
Overseas buyers and out-of-towners buying up lifestyle blocks or apartments had inflated those prices, he said.
When boom went to bust the volatile market had further to fall than other more stable housing sectors, he said.
Banks had tightened their lending requirements, too, making it harder to secure mortgages, which left fewer available buyers in search of holiday homes, Mr Goldfinch said.
Confidence had returned to the housing market generally but Queenstown, Wanaka and Central Otago lagged behind, he said.
Wanaka First National principal Lynette Winsloe said sales of entry-level homes picked up last month.
A new three or four-bedroom house in Albert Town could be yours for $400,000, Ms Winsloe said.
The Wanaka market had improved last yearand lenders accepted a recession-hit housing sector called for flexibility "pricing their products to meet the market," she said.
The median regional price for Central Otago/Lakes – the halfway point for all house sales and roughly equivalent to the average price – was $432,500 in Decem-ber and $457,000 in January last year.
In Queenstown, the median price increased within the township, from $481,000 in December to $531,250 last month, but overall prices fell.
In Central Otago, where 32 houses sold last month, the price fell from $417,000 in December to $347,500 last month.
Twenty-six houses sold in Queenstown last month, down from 42 in December.
The Otago region showed the strongest growth in sales, up 17.9 per cent to an average price of $247,500, while Southlanders completed their January house sales faster than anyone else, on average in 33 days, the report says.
Cool off for house sales in January
12th February 2010
Source: tvnz.co.nz
House sales dropped to their lowest level in 18 years in January, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
REINZ says 3,666 houses sold during the month, the lowest since electronic records of the survey started in 1992, and only the second time the figure has dropped below 4,000.
Figures first dropped below 4,000 in January last year.
Compared with December last year, 1,291 fewer houses were sold in January 2010.
REINZ president Peter McDonald attributes the cool-off to uncertainty over the government's direction on property tax.
The government had been assessing a report by the Tax Working Group which had suggested the government consider, among other recommendations, a capital gains tax, a land tax, and a disallowance of depreciation on residential investment property.
The government has since ruled out a comprehensive capital gains tax and a land tax.
"Hopefully the market will start to pick up now things are a bit clearer after the Prime Minister gave his opening speech to parliament on Tuesday," McDonald says.
Overall, $1.52 billion worth of houses were sold in January. The median house price was up $25,000 on January 2009, but down $10,000 on the December median.
REINZ says the median house price rose in 11 out of the 12 regions when compared with January 2009.
The Central Otago/Lakes region was the only one to experience a drop in median price, falling 10.4% fall to $410,000.
The Otago region showed the strongest growth in sales, up 17.9% to $247,500, followed by Taranaki up 12.5% to $300,000, and Canterbury/Westland up 12.1% to $319,500.
Sales in the Auckland region rose 6.7% to $450,500 and Wellington rose 3.5% to $375,00.
It took a median of 43 days for houses to sell in January, 16 days quicker than in January last year, but 10 days longer than in December 2009.
REINZ says sales were quickest in Southland, at 33 median days, and in Auckland, at 36 days.
Meanwhile, REINZ's monthly House Price Index decreased 1.6% to 3,201.8 in January.
The index basically shows the average sale prices for common groups of properties across 1,800 suburbs.
Positive start to Queenstown summer
12th February 2010
Source: fourcorners.co.nz
It’s been a hot start to the Queenstown summer with the resort recording the largest increase in guest nights for New Zealand in December 2009.
Latest figures from Statistics New Zealand’s Commercial Accommodation Monitor show December was a busy time in the Wakatipu with a total of 218,194 nights recorded - up an extra 24,000 nights or 12.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.
New Zealand as a whole for December was up 4.4 per cent with an increase of 137,000 nights.
Destination Queenstown CEO Tony Everitt says the local results reinforce Queenstown’s position as premier year round holiday destination for visitors.
“Well done to the tourism industry overall for still managing to produce positive results in what’s been a challenging time on a global economic scale,” he says.
“There are still a few months to go but I think we can be cautiously optimistic the rest of summer will continue in a similar manner.”
According to the December CAM, international guest nights in Queenstown are up 14.8 per cent to 157,180 and domestic up 5.8 per cent to 61,014 compared to December 2008.
NZ’s international guest nights overall during the same period has grown 6.6 per cent to 1,449,858 and domestically the country has also experienced a 2.7 per cent growth to 1,792,112.
The CAM also reveals hotel providers have enjoyed increases, up 13.8 per cent from December 2008, and this is further backed up by the NZ Hotel Council.
“There has been positive growth in hotel occupancy across all sectors compared to the prior year,” NZ Hotel Council Regional Chairman John McIIwain says. “We believe this should continue into the first quarter of 2010.”
DQ’s spring and summer campaigns rolled out throughout NZ and Australia from August to November last year.
DQ is now working on the next campaign phase promoting Queenstown’s ‘True Colours’ in Australia and NZ. Advertisements encouraging people to visit the resort in autumn start in the next few weeks.
Receivers trying to finish project
12th February 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
More than $67 million has been poured into Queenstown's $1 billion Kawarau Falls Station development in the six months after two companies associated with stage one went into receivership.
Melview (Kawarau Falls Station) Development Ltd and Melview (Kawarau Falls Station) Investments Ltd were placed in receivership in May last year by Bank of Scotland International.
The receiver's second report says the two companies owe the bank $180 million, up from the $117 million figure at the time of the receiver's first report in August.
Receiver Grant Graham, of KordaMentha, said in his second report, released this week, the bank had continued to fund the project with a further $62.8 million between May and November last year.
More than $64 million was spent on construction, $1.6 million on receivers' fees and $795,645 on legal fees.
It was unlikely funds would be available to pay the $3.5 million owed to unsecured creditors.
Since the receivership, the companies had settled debt owed to the Inland Revenue Department.
Mr Graham said the receivers were working with all parties involved in the development, including management at the site, to assess options for the companies' assets.
"In the meantime, work continues on the development.
"Pre-sales agreements to sell all properties under stage one of the development were entered into . . . with various parties prior to receivership," he said.
No property had been sold and site work had continued.
Otago University business law lecturer David Sim said it seemed the receivers were trying to complete the development to maximise return for creditors.
"Normally, a receiver would sell all the assets to pay creditors, but the other option is to trade on, which seems to be what [KordaMentha] are trying to do.
"If they sold a half-finished development they would get much less than if it was completed," he said.
The bank would want to recoup as much as possible, so would further fund the development so it could be finished, he said.
It was possible the receivers could "trade out of the difficulties".
"It is not very common, but if the development makes enough money to pay all its creditors, it could be handed back to the shareholders and directors," he said.
Tax will push up rents says report
10th February 2010
Source: nzherald.co.nz
Rents on investment property will rise and buildings will deteriorate if the Government axes building depreciation tax claims, says a KPMG report commissioned by the Property Council.
The report opposes Government reform based on the Tax Working Group's report.
KPMG said non-residential landlords would pay most of the $1.3 billion netted by changes to the tax rules because about 70 per cent of depreciation claimed in New Zealand was for non-residential property.
"The economic cost of removing depreciation on buildings will be borne primarily by the New Zealand business sector," it said, predicting the result would be lower-quality infrastructure because of fewer incentives to reinvest in capital and possibly higher rents as landlords recovered lost tax deductions.
"Neither will be a particularly desirable outcome. New Zealand would be an outlier internationally. The majority of our trading partners ... allow depreciation on some or all non-residential buildings. In the race to attract and keep capital, New Zealand would be at a significant disadvantage," KPMG said.
The council is New Zealand's main organisation for commercial, retail and industrial property consultants, managers and landlords who are responsible for real estate worth $24 billion.
KPMG said since the late 1970s, commercial and industrial buildings have depreciated at 2-4 per cent annually.
Prime Minister John Key yesterday ruled out a capital gains tax, land tax and the risk-free rate of return method of taxing income but said the system would change. Landlords were one target and changes would be announced in May's Budget.
KPMG said the tax working group's building depreciation recommendations appeared to be aimed at addressing shortcomings in residential rental housing tax. The consultants urged that to be the target, not bigger investment property.
"If there is an issue with the taxation treatment of rental housing, this should be addressed as a specific targeted measure. We note, for example, that some other jurisdictions differentiate between residential and non-residential buildings, allowing tax depreciation only on the latter.
"We believe a clear distinction needs to be drawn between the residential rental sector and the commercial and industrial property sector ... In contrast to residential rental property owners, we understand the commercial and industrial property sector is a net tax payer and contributor to the New Zealand economy.
"Unfortunately, the perception is that all buildings should be included in the scope of any depreciation change. This is not helped by the fiscal implications being based not only on removing depreciation on residential rental properties, but all buildings.
"This seems an illogical leap from the solution the group appears to be recommending to a very narrow problem," KPMG said.
Shamubeel Eaqub of NZIER wrote a paper for the council saying New Zealand would be unusual internationally if it axed building depreciation.
"This could hamper already weak foreign direct investment into New Zealand, the health of the local capital market and erode export competitiveness.
"This is clearly counter to government policy objectives of making New Zealand a more internationally competitive economy and would place us at a further disadvantage to Australia," Eaqub wrote.
Property investors would be severely penalised.
"Depreciation is a non-cash expense for businesses, which spreads capital expense over the life of the investment. The effect of depreciation is to reduce the tax burden, by reducing the taxable income by the depreciation amount, and lift after-tax cash income.
"Removing depreciation on buildings would lift the effective corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 32 per cent. Removing all depreciation, not just on buildings, would lift the effective corporate tax rate to 42 per cent," Eaqub wrote.
He estimated the removal of commercial building depreciation would levy large costs on New Zealand business of around $1 billion annually.
Market report
8th February 2010
Read the latest Property Report about New Zealand real estate from www.realestate.co.nz here:
Last year saw fewer new homes built since records began in 1966 despite a pick up in numbers from March, Statistics New Zealand said today.
"In 2009, consents were issued for 14,425 new homes, including apartments. This is the lowest number issued for a calendar year since the series began in 1966 and is due to very low numbers at the beginning of the year,'' said business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver.
The number of new houses authorised, excluding apartments, increased 45 percent since March, although the level was still considerably lower than it was before the middle of 2007.
Over the year, new dwellings, excluding apartments, fell 20 percent to 12,976 units, and apartments fell 37 percent to 1449.
The value of residential building consents was $5.1 billion, 18 percent lower than 2008. It was the lowest annual total since 2001.
The value of non-residential building consents in 2009 was $4.5b, a 0.2 percent increase compared with 2008.
The largest decreases were in factories and industrial buildings, down $187 million, farm buildings, down $186m, and storage buildings, down $172m.
The largest increases were in social, cultural, and religious buildings, up $273m, hostels and boarding houses, up $186m, and hospitals and nursing homes, up $105m.
For the month of December building consents were issued for 1260 new housing units and 93 apartments. The value of residential building consents for the month was $494m, an increase of 12 percent compared with December 2008, while the value of non-residential building consents was $404m, an increase of 5.6 percent.
Property listings defy summer upswing
1st February 2010
Source: TVNZ.co.nz
For the first time in four years the number of new properties listed for sale in January was less than that in December, real estate industry website realestate.co.nz says.
The figures were published on Monday in the website's monthly report of market activity.
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Alistair Helm said just 10,272 new listings came onto the market in January, down from 10,349 in December.
It was the first time in four years that the January figure had been lower than December, with the New Year traditionally showing a strong lift in listings to take advantage of increased summer activity.
Also, the national asking price in January fell to $405,040, a 1.8% drop from December's figure of $412,319, and a further slide of 3.5% from November's $419,586, Helm said.
The January figure remained 5.6% below the market peak of October 2007 when the asking price reached $429,033.
Even with some vendors lowering their price expectations, buyers appeared to be biding their time in the expectation that prices would fall further in an increasingly crowded market.
"The level of sales remains static, showing no significant improvement. As a result, the inventory level of unsold houses has shot up significantly, as measured by the number of weeks of sales necessary to clear properties on the market," Helm said.
In December, the inventory level was 34.3 weeks, but that jumped to 40.1 weeks in January, the highest since April last year.
"All three key indices from the January statistics, ie asking price, new listings and inventory level, show an absence of expected seasonal swings. This lack of typical seasonality underscores the state of dormancy within New Zealand property, and further highlights the fact that it continues to be a buyers' market."
OCR holds, mid-year rate hike still likely
28th January 2010
Source: goodreturns.co.nz
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard kept the official cash rate at a record-low 2.5% as expected, and said the gradual recovery in the economy was in line with expectations and gave him breathing space to stick to his timeline of a mid-year rate hike.
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard kept the official cash rate at a record-low 2.5% as expected, and said the gradual recovery in the economy was in line with expectations and gave him breathing space to stick to his timeline of a mid-year rate hike.
"If the economy continues to recover in line with our December projections, we would expect to begin removing policy stimulus around the middle of 2010," Bollard said today.
The central bank is picking the economy to grow 3.1% this calendar year, according to its December forecast, after it came out of its worst recession since 1991 last year.
Echoing his serve to policy makers over government spending in December, Bollard said "fiscal consolidation would help reduce the work that monetary policy might otherwise need to do" as growth begins to sustain itself.
Annual inflation is in the "centre of the target band" of between 1% and 2% and "expected to track comfortably within the band over the medium term," Bollard said.
Last week, data showed consumers prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2009, in line with central bank forecasts. That gave Bollard room to hold off from hiking rates too early, according to debt collection agency Dun & Bradstreet, in its 2010 Economic Outlook. The annual Consumer Price Index is forecast to track below 2% this year, dropping to 0.9%, below the target band, in the September quarter, according to the RBNZ's December forecast.
ANZ National Bank economists said "it will not be a close call today for the RBNZ," in their morning report, released before the announcement. "No change to either the cash rate or the underlying tone of the statement released is likely."
The kiwi dollar traded at 70.44 U.S. cents, from 70.54 cents immediately before the statement was released.Traders expect the central bank will lift interest rates by 172 basis points over the coming 12 months, according to the Overnight Index Swap curve. That's down from 200 points before the CPI data was released. Australia's CPI rose 0.5% over the same period, and analysts predict the Reserve Bank of Australia will hike its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time in a row as soon as next week.
Bollard brought forward his timing on rate hikes last month, saying he may move "around the middle of 2010," as opposed to his previous indication that any increase would be in the second half of the year.
The change in stance was "encouraging" for ratings agency Moody's Investors Service, which yesterday noted improving economic conditions in New Zealand as one of the reasons why it raised its outlook on the country's banking sector to ‘stable' from ‘negative.'
Economic growth in China, Australia and emerging Asian nations underpinned gains in New Zealand's commodity prices, though Bollard said sustained growth wasn't assured with "overall activity still reliant on policy support" amid ongoing problems in financial sectors.
A muted holiday shopping period will also give the central bank heart that the economy is far from overheating, with electronic card spending flat in December, and credit card billings fell 0.2% from November.
"Policy stimulus and improving export earnings have seen a pick-up in household spending," he said. "That said, households remain cautious, with credit growth subdued."The residential property market, which was a source of wealth during the housing boom, has posted weak sales volumes while prices have risen.
The median sales prices rose 1.4% to $340,000, even as sales fell to a "concerning" level below 5,000, according to Real Estate Institute data. Still, consumers have begun this year with a spring in their step.
The ANZ Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence survey showed more optimism about the current state of economy. A net 22% of the 2,049 respondents said now was a good time to buy major household items, compared to a net 11% a month earlier.
In the U.S., the Federal Open Market Committee kept its benchmark interest rate at an extraordinarily low level of between zero and 2.5%. It reiterated that interest rates will remain subdued for an extended period.
Unemployment dropping
26th January 2010
Source: Otago Daily Times
Unemployment in Queenstown soared in the last six months of 2009 to levels not seen since 2003, but has been dropping steadily in the past couple of weeks.
Work and Income regional director Sue Rissman said unemployment in Queenstown was significantly higher last month than in previous Decembers.
Figures show 109 people were receiving a benefit in December, whereas just eight were on the books in May.
"The higher number of unemployed can be directly attributed to the recession. However, in the first weeks of January, the area is experiencing a steady decline in unemployment," she said.
The major factor for the improvement was an increase in job vacancies.
"Work and Income has 45 job vacancies. In addition, there are dozens of jobs being advertised locally and on national job websites.
"The hospitality industry is looking for workers, and construction seems steady," she said.
Staff were working intensively with clients to assist them into work or training.
Last May, the official number of unemployed people in Queenstown had risen to eight, up from fewer than five three months before.
Only one person was registered as unemployed in May 2008.
The figures had shown a steady decline in unemployment benefit claims from a peak in August 2003, when 127 people were on the dole.
The number of claims ranged between 26 and 72 in 2004, then dipped to between 13 and 29 claims in 2005, eight and 17 in 2006 and between one and eight in 2007.
However, employment agencies say the Queenstown job market is buoyant, despite the higher unemployment rates.
Queenstown and Wanaka Job Agency owner Jethro Robinson said the job market in Queenstown was "very strong".
"Queenstown is looking healthy. There are jobs for workers and people to fill them so it's very buoyant considering there's a recession," he said.
All job sectors were strong including hospitality, construction and administration.
"It's been a pleasant surprise. The job market is much stronger than expected and much stronger than in other areas," he said.
Wanaka was having a "very quiet" summer compared with previous years.
Wanaka-based workers as well as backpackers and seasonal workers were moving to Queenstown where they were finding work more easily than in Wanaka. In spite of the high number of people without work, Queenstown is still attracting overseas workers.
Department of Labour spokesman Rowan Saker said a scheme was under way to attract more holidaymakers to take a working holiday in Queenstown.
The Immigration New Zealand Queenstown hospitality pilot scheme was launched in December and would run until the end of next month.
Mr Saker said the scheme was aimed at helping employers advertise jobs and find working holidaymakers who were already skilled in hospitality.
Of the more than 300 employers who were invited to take part, 38 had registered 145 jobs.
"These job opportunities were emailed to 1136 people who had registered a specific interest in working in Queenstown.
"Jobs and employer contact details were listed on a specific working holiday Queenstown page on the newzealandnow.govt.nz website," he said.
About 10% (111 people) of those who received the email clicked through to see the Queenstown employer page.
The scheme would be evaluated after it finished in February to see if it had had positive results, Mr Saker said.
And where no suitable New Zealand citizens or residents were available or could be trained to do the work on offer, Immigration New Zealand was also granting work permits under the essential skills policy.
Mr Saker said the volume of work permit applications received in the Queenstown branch between July 1 and December 30 was about 10% lower than for the corresponding period in 2008.
About 960 work permits had been approved by the Queenstown branch between October 1, 2009, and January 15, 2010.
Nationally, • Work and Income receives around about 1000 new job vacancies each week. • One in three people seeking support from Work and Income do not go on to a benefit. • In December 2008, 1772 people came off the unemployment benefit and began working. • In December 2009, 3810 people came off the unemployment benefit and found work.
Queenstown gets $60m boost
21st January 2010
The NZ Open is likely to have injected an estimated $60 million in "direct spend" into the Queenstown economy once next week's third tournament at The Hills is over, organisers said.
Tuohy Associates sales and marketing director Mike Godinet said yesterday Destination Queenstown estimates prepared after the first of the three-tournament rights deal in November 2007 showed a direct spend of almost $20 million to the Queenstown economy.
That tournament attracted 34,000 people.
The March 2009 Open battled a cold first two days and clashed with two other major local events to attract 26,000, and Mr Godinet said a bumper crowd of more than 30,000 was predicted for next week's tournament.
"Accommodation is quite tight, golf course bookings are chocka and if you haven't booked your tee time you've probably missed out," he said.
Sunny skies were expected next week and this tournament's school holiday mid-summer timing was expected to attract peak bumper crowds.
Jacks Point golf operations spokesman Rob Donald said their course was "absolutely chocka" for all of next week and the start of the following week, expecting several hundred golfers a day, double or more than usual.
"There's no room if you want carts, only a little walking space ..."
Mr Donald said Jacks Point had been enjoying a "noticeable increase" in Australians during the past few months. Direct trans-Tasman flights and the championship course's competitive A$80 (NZ$100) fees had prompted many Aussies to fly over for summer golfing holidays to escape their heat, he said.
Other courses were similarly heavily booked with barely any tee space left around the Open, and all agreed the event provided a significant boost to the local economy.
Playing Around New Zealand managing director Will Owen, of Christchurch, said Queenstown was a huge drawcard for his totally international clientele.
"Queenstown's buzzing for us at the moment, especially Jacks Point. There's been unprecedented demand."
Golfers could stay in Queenstown as a base for seven nights and play a lineup of top local courses for competitive prices and enjoy sightseeing activities.
Mr Owen said that now with The Hills also opening up, even though it was much dearer at $500 a round, that added to the attraction. He was bringing a group of 20 to play The Hills in March.
The NZ Open had raised Queenstown's golf tourism profile tremendously and attracted new clientele who watched it on the golf channel overseas. But they did not come here to watch golf and would rather play, he said. Ad Feedback
Arrowfield Apartments duty manager Carlyn McLintock said there was no way they could accommodate any more people during the Open, "not even in a wardrobe".
Residents in her neighbourhood had even been coerced into rent-ing their homes out while on holiday to cater for the overload.
Several motels had the odd room free around the Open time and the Rydges Queenstown was fully booked on January 29 and 31.
Millbrook Resort had some large group bookings and only a few rooms in its Village Inn free leading up to the Open.
Staff were expecting the resort's restaurants to be very full during the Open as in previous years.
House prices up, but sales slow
18th January 2010
House prices rose a modest 1.4 per cent in December, but ended the year nearly 10 per cent up from the year before.
Sales figures released this morning by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show the median residential house price rose in 11 out of 12 districts last month when compared to the same month the previous year.
The national median of $360,000 was up 9.6 per cent on the corresponding figure of $328,500 recorded for December 2008. It was also up $5,000 on the median price for November 2009.
In Auckland, housing prices in December were 9.7 per cent above those in December 2008 with housing prices in Wellington up 9.5 per cent, and Christchurch up by 5.8 per cent.
Other South Island suburbs were up 8.6 per cent and other North Island suburbs were up by 4.2 per cent- also up from the year earlier levels.
The REINZ Monthly Housing Price Index - a more accurate measure of nationwide real estate movements, fell by 0.9 per cent to 3253.4 in the December 2009 month.
In the three months to December, housing prices increased by 2.8 per cent. Compared to 12 months earlier, the REINZ Housing Price Index increased by 6.4 per cent.
Housing prices are 3.8 per cent below their November 2007 peak.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand President Peter McDonald said a shortage of properties available for sale was fuelling the market.
"House prices have definitely stabilised and appear to be slightly gaining, which is a positive sign. The median house price for December 2009 was up 1.4 per cent on the previous month so, while the median price for December 2009 was a record high for that time of the year, it's a case of steady as it goes," he said.
McDonald said it was concerning that fewer than 5,000 residential properties sold in December. There were 655 more houses sold around the country than in December 2008 but still down 640 on December 2007.
Bernard Doyle, economist for Goldman Sachs JBWere said the 2010 outlook for the housing market "appears a lot more balanced than last year".
"We do suspect house prices to post modest gains over the year. However, this is likely to be at a more gradual rate of increase than over 2009, with interest rates set to rise, net migration gains potentially to slow as the Australian economy outperforms, and the labour market remaining subdued."
"The wildcard, of course, is also around changes to the tax treatment of housing," said Doyle.
The Tax Working Group is due to report back its recommendations to the Government this week and Doyle said he suspected housing would be a key pillar of its recommendations.
Building consents hit 18-month high
14th January 2010
Source: Businessday, stuff.co.nz
Building consents for new homes rose 3.1 per cent in November to reach their highest level since May 2008, according to Statistics NZ.
The number, which excluded consents for new apartments, follows an 11 per cent jump in October, but remains some way off the highs experienced in mid-2007.
"Although the trend for new housing units has been increasing since March 2009, it is still considerably lower than the levels seen before mid-2007, "said business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver.
Residential building consents were issued for 1,458 new housing units and 42 new apartments; factoring apartment consents the level of new housing units rose only 1.2 per cent.
The value of consents topped $537 million, an increase of 18 per cent compared with November 2008. The value of non-residential building consents was $389m, a fall of 2.3 per cent.
Statistics NZ says the decrease in non-residential value was partly offset by a large increase in the hospitals and nursing homes category, due to consents for several hospital projects.
NZ rated in top 5 places to live
13th January 2010
Source: NZ Herald
New Zealand is the fifth-best country to live in, according to an index run by magazine International Living.
That's up four places from ninth last year, when the magazine described the country as an Antipodean outpost, "stunning" but with "drawbacks" such as being 12 hours from the United States and the difficulty with immigrating here.
The American index is pitched at those who are retiring or want to migrate. It ranks 194 countries which offer the best quality of life, considering cost of living, culture and leisure, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, safety and risk, and climate.
This year, the survey raved about "pristine landscapes", the Auckland waterfront and Southern Alps - calling Godzone the type of place younger migrants could relocate to and raise a family. Positive, too, it said, are rebounding property prices.
The magazine then cut and pasted from Immigration New Zealand's website other reasons why the country deserves to be in the top 10.
"In many ways it's not what we have that's important to our quality of life - it's what we don't have. We don't have high crime rates, our police don't carry guns and instances of corruption are virtually unheard of. We don't have abject poverty or hunger and we don't have the pollution, congestion, health issues and cramped city living that we see elsewhere."
Australia improved from fifth overall in 2009 to second, on the back of the way its economy weathered the global financial crisis.
Despite "it's tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes", France, for the fifth year running, was ranked first. Outweighing those factors were the world's best health-care system.
Staff writers also waxed lyrical about the difficulties of measuring a country's "heart and soul".
"But it's impossible to enumerate the joy of lingering for hours over dinner and a bottle of red wine in a Parisian brasserie. Or strolling beside the Seine on a spring morning, poking through the book vendors' wares. Or buying buttery croissants in bohemian Montmartre...
Surprise boost to house prices
11th January 2010
Source: The Dominion Post
House values are creeping back to where they were when the boom reached its peak two years ago.
Figures released today by Quotable Value point to a "dramatic and somewhat unexpected level of turnaround" less than 18 months after the housing market collapsed.
However, economists still expect prices to level out.
Values nationwide are just 4.9 per cent below the peak of the market in late 2007. The average sale price is $404,671.
In Wellington City the average price is now $524,643. It had one of the country's biggest rises in house prices in December, 5.1 per cent, matching the strengthening Auckland housing market.
ANZ National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said the world had changed in the past few years and he did not predict another boom and bust period. "I think it's a sign that monetary policy works – the Reserve Bank stepped up to the plate, you know, Alan Bollard cut interest rates for a reason. We're not seeing credit growth, people have stopped taking on more debt than they can handle.
"We're seeing a bungy-cord style recovery right now, and I predict prices will level out over the next couple of years."
QV valuation manager Glenda Whitehead said the housing market had been rescued by lower interest rates, improving confidence and the age-old affection for property. "In the early months of 2009, with interest rates at their lowest level for many years, scores of home owners took the opportunity to refinance their existing loans and shelved any plans to move in the short term.
"At the same time, potential buyers were holding back in the expectation that values would drop further, although many were tempted back into the market by the low interest rates."
House prices bottomed out in April at 9.6 per cent below the peak and made rapid gains since. However, turnover of houses in 2009 remained low, with a shift towards cheaper houses – a reverse of the trend in 2008. Although there was now speculation of another boom, Ms Whitehead said a cautionary mood prevailed. She predicted that low stock levels in the main centres and tighter bank lending would continue to subdue the market.
The main driver of the turnaround came from the city centres, where house values were now just 3.9 per cent below the peak.
Values rose 4.6 per cent in Christchurch and in Wellington, where growth was more significant in southern and northern suburbs. The average house price in the eastern suburbs is now $573, 126, the highest in the city.
The effect on provincial centres was less pronounced. Values rose 3.2 per cent during the year but were still 7.7 per cent below the peak.
Ad Feedback In Taupo, the average property value fell 1.4 per cent in December. Hastings, central Hawke's Bay, Whanganui, Horowhenua and south Wairarapa also experienced falls. Property values rose 3.3 per cent in Palmerston North, and 3.8 per cent in Kapiti. Ms Whitehead said rural and provincial areas had more listings and demand was lower, but there were signs of prices rising.
Realestate.co.nz: the year of 'the opportunist'
24th December 2009
Source: Press Release: Realestate.co.nz
Realestate.co.nz’s searches show 2009 was the year of ‘the opportunist’
AUCKLAND – 23 December 2009 – Fallout from the recession caused a huge boost in 2009 house-hunters searching for mortgagee sales as opportunistic Kiwis looked to take advantage and find a bargain. The keyword ‘mortgagee’ was searched for over 40,000 times in the past 12 months, equating to one in every 13 searches.
This trend comes via Realestate.co.nz, the country’s most comprehensive property listing website, which has also seen a massive increase in searches for beach destinations with the country perhaps seeking a sanctuary from the doom and gloom of the recession.
As Realestate.co.nz CEO Alistair Helm says, “paralleling the theme of recessionary searches, the top 10 business related searches almost all have a focus on making money. Top search was “investment” with “do up” and “home and income” rounding out the top 10.”
Contrasting the emphasis on recession-related searches, within the top ten were also lifestyle aspiration terms, with punters seeking pools, waterfront living, character properties, villas and garages. As Helm points out:
“2009 was the year of the opportunist; people looked for added value in properties with keywords like ‘beach’, ‘waterfront’ and ‘swimming pool’, showing there was continued interest in coastal properties.”
Analysis of the top location searches shows that Queenstown was top of the table by some distance. In addition, the picturesque and aspirational beach suburb of Sumner made a dynamic and somewhat surprising rise up the chart, from 354 last year to 45 this year. The top ten also included Wanaka, Raglan and Mapua. Helm continues:
“While the property market certainly faced some tough times in 2009, the word ‘investment’ was in fact the most searched for business opportunity phrase, moving up to an overall search ranking of 40, from 297 last year. This indicates that there was a feeling that this year represented a great opportunity to make money if you had available capital.”
About Realestate.co.nz Realestate.co.nz is the official website of the New Zealand real estate industry, and provides the most comprehensive selection of listings across all categories of real estate. Realestate.co.nz lists over 100,000 properties at any one time, representing over 90% of all listings currently marketed by real estate professionals.
Runway extension ready to fly
17th December 2009
Source: The Southland Times
Work has started on a Queenstown Airport runway extension that will require some 76,000 truckloads of fill to complete.
The $5 million runway extension safety area, or RESA, must be completed by October 2011 in order for the airport to continue receiving international flights.
Queenstown Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said contractor Fulton Hogan had begun laying the foundations for the extension on the Shotover Delta.
Debris was being cleared and the footprint of the extension marked out.
Starting early next year, more than 190 dump trucks of material would be delivered daily over 18 months to reach the 700,000 cubic metres of fill required.
Its footprint will spread out 240m on to the Shotover Delta and slope 30 degrees upward so the top of the area increases the length of the runway buffer by 90m.
At least half of the fill will come free from the nearby Remarkables Park, which received resource consent to undertake earthworks this year, Mr Sanderson said.
"It was a good solution.
"It was a win-win for the airport and Remarkables Park – they get their subdivision and we get the fill for the RESA."
The agreement also minimises the number of trucks on public roads, with the fill being transported across privately owned land from one site to another.
Work will also begin early next year on the extension at the Frankton end of the runway.
Contractors would undertake earthworks and install a jetblast fence to create another 90m safety area. Mr Sanderson was confident the project would be completed by the middle of 2011, several months before the Civil Aviation Authority's October deadline.
Remarkables Park director Alastair Porter said work had started on pegging out the 1.5km eastern arterial road, which trucks would use to transport the fill.
It would be metalled while in use to form the extension and later sealed and opened to the public so people could drive from Remarkables Park, around the end of the runway, to Shotover Park and State Highway 6.
Truck movements are expected to begin in January or February.
Return to 2007 house prices tipped
11th December 2009
Source: The Dominion Post
House prices should be back to their 2007 peaks soon, according to the Reserve Bank, but a 12 per cent annual gain by March is not expected to spark another "borrow and spend" binge by home owners.
Opinions are mixed about whether the housing market will keep rising next year after this year's rebound, with the prospect of floating mortgage rates rises by mid-year or sooner, and a possible clampdown on investment property tax deductions by Government.
Some economists expect house prices to keep rising 5 to 10 per cent in the next couple of years, while others say the market will flatten and possibly dip next year. The Reserve Bank expects the market to soften in 2011.
In its latest official statement yesterday, the Reserve Bank held official interest rates at 2.5 per cent but said they may start to rise around the middle of 2010 if the economy keeps recovering. In previous statements the central bank had said rates would not move up till "the second half of 2010".
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard is holding the cash rate steady as he monitors "considerable uncertainty" about the durability of economic growth. But he presented an upbeat picture yesterday with growth forecast to rise 3 per cent next year and unemployment near an expected peak of 6.7 per cent.
House prices had risen quickly this year because few were for sale or few new homes being built while demand had increased with stronger net migration to New Zealand.
However, the Reserve Bank does not expect another "borrow and spend" binge. "New Zealanders have taken some lessons out of the global financial crisis and what they saw as some vulnerability in house prices," Dr Bollard said.
People were paying off debt and in some cases even trading down to smaller homes to cut debt.
Economists warned that floating mortgage rates will start rising by June and possibly as soon as April, eventually rising about 3 per cent.
Along with a possible government clampdown on tax write-offs on investment property, rising interest rates could see house prices flatten or fall slightly next year, according to ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie. "I think the [property] market is already starting to level out with interest rates moving up," he said. Prices would be "sideways or slightly down" in 2010 as interest rates moved up and the Government clamps down on the $2 billion-a-year tax deduction on the housing market through Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies (LAQCs). "It will get closed down," and he said there may be an indication from the Government on that next week.
In the past two months, volumes of home sales and the days to sell had levelled out and mortgage approvals had flattened, suggesting house prices would level out in 2010, too, Mr Bagrie said. "It is a fallacy to think we are going back to [he housing market] of 2006 and if we try that on, the Reserve Bank will move [rates up] earlier," Mr Bagrie said.
But Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander warned house prices will keep rising 5 to 10 per cent a year over the next two years because of a simple shortage of homes. That was also likely to push up rents next year. "We don't have a big oversupply of houses and we have a worsening undersupply of new homes with low construction."
At worst in the recession house prices fell 11 per cent but had recovered more than 9 per cent already. Prices would also keep rising when builders started flooding back to Australia next year as that economy boomed, further reducing the supply of new homes, Mr Alexander said.
However, house building would be a key source of economic activity with more work for sawmills and manufacturers and retailers of household goods.
Reserve Bank holds cash rate steady
10th December 2009
Source: The Dominion Post
The Reserve Bank is holding official interest rates at 2.5 per cent, but says rates may start to rise around the middle of 2010 if the economy keeps recovering.
In previous statements the central bank had said rates would not move up till "the second half of 2010."
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard is holding the cash rate steady as he monitors ongoing uncertainty about the durability of New Zealand's economic growth.
"If the economy continues to recover, conditions may support beginning to remove monetary stimulus around the middle of 2010. Recent tightening in financial conditions, driven by a higher exchange rate, increased long-term interest rates and a wider gap between the OCR and bank funding costs, reduces the need for more immediate action," he said
"The New Zealand economy continues to recover but there remains considerable uncertainty about the durability of the expansion. Global activity has continued to rebound. Most obviously, activity in Australia, China and emerging Asia continues to increase and solid growth is expected over the next few years.
"The picture is more mixed in the major developed economies. While activity is expanding, sustained growth is not assured. Financial sectors are still impaired in a number of economies and economic activity is still heavily dependent on policy support.
The economy's recovery reflecting improved world growth, higher export commodity prices, increased government spending and housing strength," he said.
A central uncertainty is the extent to which higher house prices are eventually reflected in increased consumer spending. At this point credit growth remains subdued suggesting households are being relatively cautious.
"While business confidence has improved, actual business spending remains weak. In addition, the high level of the New Zealand dollar has limited the scope for exports to contribute to the recovery. After some short-term correction the current account deficit is expected to widen in the future.
"Annual CPI inflation is expected to remain below 2 per cent until early 2011 and track within the target range over the medium term.
"The economy is being assisted by both monetary and fiscal policy support. As growth becomes self sustaining, fiscal consolidation would help reduce the work that monetary policy might otherwise need to do.
Plan change receives conditional support
10th December 2009
Source: Otago Daily Times
More than 20,000 flights a year could be taking place at Queenstown Airport by 2037, if growth predictions are accurate, the Queenstown Lakes District Council's strategy committee was told yesterday.
The committee was given the information as part of a report on the airport corporation's private plan change, which seeks to amend existing air noise boundaries and allow flights to land at the airport between 10pm and midnight.
QLDC senior policy analyst Karen Page said Airbiz, an international specialist aviation consultancy company, had assessed the airport's operations and growth predictions.
Passenger numbers for scheduled aircraft are predicted to grow from 700,640 in the year ending June 30, 2008 to 2,348,139 by June 30, 2037.
"This would result in an increase in annual aircraft movements for scheduled flights from 8350 in 2008, to in excess of 20,000 flights in 2037.
"If the airport is to provide for this growth, then the existing noise boundaries will have to be extended," Ms Page said.
The airport was operating near the limits of noise levels permitted by the air noise boundary, and the proposed plan change would see an extension of that boundary and the outer control boundary; the addition of a sound insulation boundary and a new night-time noise boundary.
It would also introduce new objectives, policies and rules to the district plan to protect the airport against reverse sensitivity effects.
Ms Page said the council had three options with regard to the plan change.
It could not reject it because the plan change met the tests under Resource Management Act and it "would not be appropriate" to treat the plan change as a resource consent, as it involved a change to the airport noise contours and planning provisions.
The council could accept it, meaning the applicant would incur the full cost of the plan change, including any council time spent processing the application.
Accepting a plan change did not mean the council agreed with the contents of the plan change request.
"Provided that the plan change passes the grounds for rejection, the council must accept a private plan change to allow the public to consider its merits," Ms Page said.
The council could adopt it in full, which would normally mean the council would absorb the full cost of the plan change; however, Queenstown Airport Corporation had agreed to incur the cost of the plan change through a private stakeholders' agreement.
By adopting the plan change, the council would be acknowledging it was something the council might initiate in the future to enable airport growth.
However, two main issues were apparent: a lack of any proposed aircraft noise controls in the plan change, and a lack of any provisions around compensation in the plan change.
The final option was for the council to adopt the plan change in part, which would give it the chance to "exclude" the later flight arrivals.
"My recommendation is that strategy [committee] recommend to full council that the plan change is adopted in part, excluding the night-time flight provisions; that the provisions relating to night-time flying are accepted; and that a report to the strategy committee be received . . . regarding a submission recommendation on [the plan change].
"Obviously, because the existing operating hours go to 10pm . . . our recommendation would be to leave those potential hours open for discussion . . . as opposed to the council adopting it in full at this stage."
Cr John R. Wilson said more work needed to be done on the noise boundaries, particularly with the potential for late flights landing in winter.
"These planes will be flying in on a winter's night . . . Sound goes a long, long way. Big planes coming in later at night creates a disturbance."
Cr John Mann said he had been approached by a ratepayer concerned about "24-hour landings".
However, if the plan change were successful, planes could land until midnight, but no planes would be permitted to leave.
"There's not going to be takeoffs after 10pm . . . There's nowhere to fly to."
Cr Cath Gilmour said the airport was "very strong" on protecting its own interests but "not very strong on protecting the community's interests".
"If we're adopting . . . we're saying that we adopt and therefore recommend the approach thus far taken by QAC. It's putting a lot of trust and good faith in a commercial operation."
The committee voted to accept the recommendation as put, which will be discussed by the full council next week.
Cr Gilmour voted against the recommendations.
Southern property dragging its heels
7th December 2009
Source: The Southland Times
Southern property values have bucked the improving national trend, according to the latest QV valuation.
Figures released yesterday, show only the Invercargill and Clutha areas recorded average house prices above this time last year, up 0.4 and 2 per cent, respectively.
Average prices in the Queenstown Lakes district were down 6.1 per cent, while Central Otago (down 3.1 per cent), Gore (down 2.6 per cent) and greater Southland (down 1.9 per cent) are also worse than 12 months ago.
Nationally, property values have risen 4.1 per cent off their low in April 2009 but are still 5.9 per cent below the market peak in late 2007.
Property values in November were 1 per cent above last year and 0.2 per cent above last month.
The increase in nationwide values was largely driven by the main urban areas, which have risen 4.7 per cent since the low.
First National Group general manager John Stewart said the cities were seeing competition for good properties but the regions "once again had problems with vendors overpricing".
With more homes coming on the market and interest rates tipped to rise, Mr Stewart urged sellers to look carefully at their presentation and pricing.
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Alistair Helm said the market recovery was happening only in the main cities.
The shortage of stock in the big city markets and the "hangover" of supply and slower sales in rural areas was responsible, he said.
The average sale price across the country in November was $393,373 – a figure QV said reflected the mix of properties selling rather than absolute value shifts.
MOVING TARGET - AVERAGE HOUSE PRICES: (change during past 12 months in brackets)
November tends to herald the last month for listing property prior to the Christmas break and this year shows the traditional seasonal rise in listings. However the steady growth in listings seen over the past 3 months have begun to outpace the rate of sales of property across the country leading to a further growth in inventory levels in November - taking the equivalent of stock on the market to 36 weeks.
That is to say, based on the current rate of sale, it would take 36 weeks (8.3 months) to clear all the stock. The lowest point of this property cycle was reached in June when inventory reached a low of 31.5 weeks (7.3 months) - since then it has grown for 5 successive months.
The current rate of sales of property from REINZ statistics shows a 12 month total (Nov 08 - Oct 09) of 67,197, this is up 10% on the prior 12 month period but down 31% when compared to the 12 months to October 2007.
This growth of inventory is not spread evenly across the country with the major centers seeing inventory falls whereas provincial NZ is where the significant inventory rises are being seen. The biggest rises are being seen in the Central North Island, Northland, Marlborough, Gisborne and Southland.
Asking Price
The vendor’s expectation of asking price for properties coming onto the market in November grew slightly to $419,586.
This price represented a 1.9% rise in asking price when compared to the moving average of the past 3 months (Aug/Sep/Oct).
The asking price of new listings in November last year was $404,913 representing a 3.6% year on year increase.
New Listings
The number of new listings coming onto the market rose slightly to 13,857, from the October total of 13,550.
Despite the uplift in listings during November the level of new listings over the past 12 months continues to show a 11% fall with 147,813 new listings in the recent 12 months as compared to 165,690 in the prior 12 months spanning 2007/8.
Inventory
The overall level of available inventory as measured by equivalent weeks of sales grew again in November - the 5th consecutive month of rise from 31.5 weeks in June to the current level of 36.0 weeks.
Whilst inventory tends to rise approaching Christmas the levels this year are up on the 33.9 weeks in 2007 but down on the extreme peak of 52.6 weeks in November last year - a time when property sales stagnated.
Regional Summary - Asking price expectation
The national mean asking price showed little movement in November from October as the stability of the market saw a level of vendor expectation being met by buyer demand. Overall there were 13 of the 19 regions showing increases with Gisborne registering the largest increase and Central North Island the biggest fall - both regions affected by small base of data.
The price rise in Auckland of 4.1% is a direct result of the tightness of the market with inventory levels remaining tight as the flow of new listings seems to be being met by a steady demand. The same inventory tightness in the other major centers of Wellington and Canterbury does not seem to be directly impacting asking price at this stage.
Regional Summary - listings
The pendulum has swing in the direction of a buyer’s market as the inventory of property on the market is being bolstered by rises in new listings which is meeting a steady, yet uninspiring sales level. Of the 19 regions round the country 10 are seeing degrees of buyers markets with positive year-on-year increases in listings.
The regions of Central North Island, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki and Nelson all saw rises of more than 20%. Only one region - the Wairarapa showed a significant fall of 59% as compared to November last year.
Wellington continues to see a low level of new listings, just 1,114 in November down 17% compared to last year.
Regional Summary - inventory
The regional make up of the market from an inventory perspective points to a growing buyers market with 11 of the 19 regions showing inventory levels as measured in weeks of equivalent sales running significantly above long term averages.
The only conspicuous regions reversing this trend are the 3 metropolitan regions of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury all of which are showing inventory levels well below long term averages and well below the national average.
These major metropolitan regions are showing characteristics more akin to seller’s market and has prompted some to speculate an emerging property bubble. The breadth of data by reach region clearly refutes this assertion.
Lifestyle Property
Lifestyle listing numbers remain constant over the past 3 months with 1,191 added in November. This represented an 8.1% increase on prior year. Over the past 12 months 11,561 new lifestyle listing have come onto the market a 16% lower amount than in the prior year 12 month period. Significantly lower listing have been seen in Marlborough and the West Coast over the past year both close to 50% down whilst Nelson and Bay of Plenty have seen growth - albeit less than 10%.
The truncated mean asking price for November was $608,616 a 2% increase on November last year and 4% up on the prior 3 month average.
Apartments
November saw 643 new apartments listings come onto the market, up a significant 27% on November last year, however well down on the peak of 2007 when 983 new listing were added in November. Over the past 12 months a total of 6,385 new apartment listings have come onto the market - down 8.5% on the prior 12 month period.
The Auckland market representing in November 59% of all new listings shows a small increase in listings on a 12 month rolling basis with 3,970 listings in the 12 month period. The truncated mean asking price nationally was $364,384 which was 6% down on the 3 month average - Auckland saw listing asking price down 8% at $323,307.
Our new brand revealed
29th November 2009
After months of secret planning and development, the new “hoamz” brand was revealed on Friday, 27th November to management, staff and a select group of specially invited VIP’s.
The International brand consultancy, Mindshelf, was retained by Southern Lakes directors to develop a vibrant new brand that better reflected the growing organisation and the geographic area it is now actively involved in.
Ross Smith, CEO of Mindshelf who has personally steered the re-branding project for more than twelve months said “The hoamz brand is one of the top three new brands we’ve given birth to in the past ten years. It has enormous energy and visual recall, giving it the capacity to quickly become recognised as the leading real estate brand locally, regionally and even nationally”.
Mindshelf has also developed a state-of-the-art back office IT platform –“hoamzhub” described as being at the cutting edge of real estate IT. “This overall project positions hoamz as one of the most visible and resourced real estate agents anywhere” said Smith. “It’s great news for customers buying or selling property too as the promotion of the new brand attracts even more attention, leading to an even more powerful showcase for property”.
Fred Bramwell, Managing Partner at hoamz summed up the new brand by saying “There’s no place like hoamz! The re-brandingproject builds on the past successes of SLRE and positions us in a very compelling and powerful way. We’re excited, our staff are excited and customers who have seen the new hoamz brand are already talking about it in a very positive way!
Newspapers big losers as property searchers stampede online
31st August 2009
Each year around this time there is heated anticipation for the release of the annual Nielsen Real Estate Market Report. This comprehensive survey of property buyers and sellers has become a seminal guidebook to the trends in real estate as it has been undertaken in each of the past 4 years.
The survey covers many aspects of consumer behaviour, attitudes and awareness of the industry and each year new insights and critical trends emerge.
This year one chart from the amongst one hundred pages of the report leaped out and said in a confident and striking manner - LOOK AT ME!
A total of 1,206 people were asked the question:
“Thinking about the different media and other things that you consult for the purpose of researching real estate, how useful do you perceive the following?”
The respondents were shown a list of 14 sources of real estate information - everything from TV and real estate office window displays to magazines, newspapers and the web, in all their different forms. The respondents were then asked to rate each by how useful they though each was. The chart below compares the 2 major competing media - newspapers and specialist real estate websites.
The results are staggering with 95% of people saying that specialist real estate websites were “useful or very useful” as compared to just 49% for newspapers - taking the judgement of “very useful”; less than 1 in 10 judged newspapers as “very useful”, whereas with specialist real estate websites 2 out of 3 judged them “very useful”.
Evaluating all of the 14 media options as to how many had been consulted in the past week equally startling trends emerged, comparing this year to last year.
Right up at the top of the list is specialist real estate websites; up from 69% last year to 78% this year. Other web options of company websites and search engines showed growth at 63% and 38% respectively.
However the print versions of real estate saw significant declines. Specialist magazines remain relevant although falling from 55% to just 46%. Local newspapers fell from 49% to 40% and then far behind was national / metropolitan newspapers down from 43% last year to just 31% this year - this means that now less than a third of all property researchers surveyed consulted metropolitan newspapers in the past week.
These figures are in some ways not that alarming as the rise in traffic to real estate websites has been enormous over the past few years, however despite this and despite the behaviour of buyers and sellers in using the web as the primary means of researching real estate - the real estate industry still has a love affair with printed publications, demonstrated by the colossal scale of investment of vendors money in print media, with so little relatively being placed in online media advertising of property.
I can’t help recounting a moment sitting just last month listening to a panel discussion at the Inman Connect Conference in San Francisco. I was not surprised. Nor were any of my fellow participants. One after another real estate agents shared their approach to marketing-about both marketing of themselves and of their clients’ properties. Not one of them mentioned newspapers. There are some agents in NZ who share this ethos and maybe in time we will see more; however I think the onus may need to come from property sellers to share their view on the appropriateness of online vs. offline when it comes to vendor-paid-marketing.
Wanaka author, identity and renowned Tolkien fan Ian Brodie is packing his bags and heading for Hobbiton.
The founding director of Wanaka's successful New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum is taking up a position as media and communications manager at the Matamata-based Lord of the Rings tourist attraction, near Hamilton.
Mr Brodie, 52, has worked at the museum since it was founded in 1992 by Sir Tim Wallis. Mr Brodie's wife, Diane, has also worked as the museum administrator for the past four years.
Mr Brodie, who has written 17 books, including the top- selling Lord of the Rings Location Guide Book and other books on airshow and film topics, said he was excited about the new opportunity, which would allow him to help develop the Hobbiton farm tourist attraction. About 170,000 visitors had been through Hobbiton since it opened seven years ago.
Tolkien books and fighter planes were his passion, he said.
"If you can get paid for a hobby, you can't go wrong," Mr Brodie said. He had just returned from seven weeks in England commentating on airshows, a job he had been doing since 1992.
Mr Brodie said the interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and its film locations in New Zealand had "not lost its hype".
"It's the second-biggest read book after the Bible, so immediately you've got a huge fan base.
"It's implanted in people's minds, the New Zealand landscapes - if you're a real fan you'll still save and go there. It's got longevity, it's going to last a long time."
The Queenstown Lakes District, traditionally the land of "zero unemployment", has jumped from just two registered unemployed to 114 during the past year.
Work and Income southern region labour market manager Paul Casson said it was the first time in years the Queenstown and Wanaka areas had registered more than a few unemployed.
It was a concern but the problem was likely to be short-lived.
"We have 56 jobs registered in our Queenstown office . . . and we've just got 50 jobs come in from Burger King (opening soon), on top of that," Mr Casson said.
Positions on offer included chefs, builders, hairdressers and painters. "Queenstown traditionally has zero unemployment and the Central Otago/Gibbston Valley area has been declared as a 'labour market shortage' area from September through until April."
Winz would be working hard to place all 114 unemployed New Zealanders from throughout the district into jobs.
That problem would have been made easier if a high proportion of them had not come from Wanaka, Mr Casson said.
Many Wanaka unemployed had problems with accommodation and transport, and did not want to travel over the Crown Range during winter, he said.
The higher number of jobseekers was because of a combination of redundancies within the construction industry and tourism "softening a little bit", but there were generally fewer jobs across the board, Mr Carson said.
Queenstown Lakes was a seasonal job market and the early snowfalls had been encouraging for the ski industry.
"But some employers are a bit nervous about taking people on. We're seeing that right across the region. They're waiting for contracts to confirm or the recovery to occur."
However, there had been some positive visitor numbers and airline flights coming to Queenstown, which remained the "jewel in the crown" for the country.
For the first time in the Queenstown Lakes area, Work and Income's Working For You seminars for the unemployed were being held weekly to help people back into work.
Unemployment was on the rise throughout the region, whether in the seasonal horticulture and pip industry or meat and dairy industries.
Queenstown Primary School would have no problem catering for its new Years 7 & 8 students from next year with a new $1.4 million due for completion in December, principal John Western said this month.
Funding of $860,000 had been secured for the new block of five learning studios during the extreme roll growth two years ago and construction started six weeks ago, Mr Western said.
However, even with the proposed reorganisation and Years 7 and 8 students being dropped from Wakatipu High sending 100 Year 7#39;s to Queenstown Primary from next year, Mr Western said he was pretty confident his roll would be no larger than the 640 it was at now.
Some of his pupils would attend the new Remarkables Primary School opening next year and that school would build up to a roll of 475 through a transition period during the next three years.
He said Wakatipu High as yet his school had not yet decided how it would provide those home economics, woodwork and metalwork technology options, but they would definitely be available to Year 7's starting out next year.
Mr Western said it was very uncertain times for staff at both his school and Wakatipu High, but he would not know how many teachers he would need until that had been discussed collectively with the ministry, teacher unions and his school#39;s board.
We#39;re waiting for ministry information to make that clearer... Mr Western said.
A $25 million commercial development at Frankton remains on schedule for a late November completion.
Terrace Junction development director Lindsay Williams said stage one of the retail and office precinct was on target to be finished next month, with stage two expected to be finished two months later.
"Things are starting to take shape and it's getting very exciting. "Some of the tenant fit-outs have begun on stage one and others are about to start. It's all go on every front. We've got sprinklers going in, windows going in, it's all very exciting."
Bridgman & Dean Optometrists, Betty's Liquor, Westpac and Burger King were among the confirmed tenants, he said.
Only two of the 11 ground floor spaces remained and retail and office spots on the first floor were also being filled.
The development is beside the BP service station and will be anchored by a 102-seat Burger King restaurant. Rival McDonald's is planning to open a 139-seat restaurant on the opposite side of the road, next to the Mobil petrol station.
Central Otago winemakers are being urged to position themselves in key overseas export markets ready for an economic recovery, likely to occur sooner than expected.
Southern winegrowers represented at the Wine Exporters Forum in Christchurch say the news was all good for Central Otago, with pinot noir one of the fastest growing wine varieties being imported in the United States.
New Zealand Winegrowers Association deputy chairman Steve Green said this was great for Central Otago, as almost 80 per cent of its plantings were pinot noir.
The second most popular variety being exported to the United States was riesling and Central Otago was also becoming renowned for its riesling.
Obviously pinot noir is particularly relevant for Central Otago with almost 80 per cent of our plantings in pinot noir, Akarua Wines marketing manager Jacqui Murphy said.
Central Otago was fast becoming recognised as a producer of some stunning Rieslings as well as pinot gris and chardonnay.
Overseas experts speaking at the forum had told winegrowers that, in spite of the economic recession, they should not stop their marketing pushes into major export markets, as the economic recovery would be sooner than thought.
They basically told us, #39;don#39;t take your foot off the pedal in your marketing as it (the market) will recover#39;, Ms Murphy said.
Mr Green said between 40 and 50 per cent of Central Otago's pinot noir fruit would end up being exported each year - about 15 per cent of that heading into the North American (Canadian/US) market.
Some larger New Zealand companies, such as Villa Maria, bought Central Otago pinot noir fruit to make their wine.
Australia was another very strong market for New Zealand winegrowers and one where Central Otago pinot noir was doing "exceptionally well", Mr Green said.
That was probably due to the fact that Australia was unable to produce some of the cool-climate wines that New Zealand could. However, Australia had also managed to "escape the recession" to some extent, Mr Green said.
The other key market targeted by Central Otago growers was the United Kingdom.
"Our plan is to position ourselves for when things get better again," Mr Green said.
A new seamless connection offered by Jetstar between Japan and Auckland from October 25 might boost the Japanese market in Queenstown, Jetstar spokesman Gerard Blank said this month.
He said the flight would connect with Jetstar's daily flight from Auckland to Queenstown and was targeting the Japanese adventure youth traveller.
The move, launched with cheap NZ$449 fares between Tokyo and Auckland and Osaka and Auckland on sale this month for travel until December 9, would encourage more Japanese travellers into Auckland and on to Queenstown.
Destination Queenstown's general manager marketing Graham Budd said it was a positive move with Japanese visitor numbers to New Zealand down 30 to 50 per cent during the past year.
"That's a huge decline, but that market Jetstar is targeting may motivate a new market, so it's got to be good."
For now the Japanese market had been in "a bit of a holding pattern", but Destination Queenstown was targeting Australians.
The Government has approved just under $720,000 for a much- needed second Arrowtown community preschool, which could be open by the middle of next year.
With 125 children already on the waiting list for the existing 30-space preschool, project manager for the new centre Juliet Pope said yesterday that work was ready to begin on construction within the next two months.
"We're ecstatic - we first applied (for funding) in October last year and were turned down, so we reapplied in April this year and we've been successful this round." She said the centre would be finalising the building consent drawings within the next week or two.
Head teacher Jane Foster said parents were desperate for a new facility and the grant was fantastic news.
The second centre was also licensed for 30 children but because the preschool was sessional that could cater for up to 50 children with shared placements.
Parents surveyed last year would be given priority and would be individually contacted during the next week to confirm their interest, Mrs Foster said.
"We've got such a waiting list - parents are just desperate," she said.
She said the new centre would probably focus more on 2 to 4-year olds as this seemed to be where the greatest need was. The existing 30-space centre would continue to cater for 3 to 5-year-olds, taking up to 60 children in sessions as it did now.
Six new teachers would be needed for the new centre and Mrs Foster said they had already received a registration of interest.
The preschool had to stump up $40,000 to put towards the $759,000 building cost for the project - $20,000 of that would be raised through a loan and $20,000 had already been fundraised. It would have to raise a further $50,000 and the centre would apply for an Education Ministry establishment grant of up to $30,000 to cover some of that cost.
Fundraising would begin immediately to help make up the shortfall.
Clutha-Southland MP Bill English said more children in Central Otago would now be able to access early childhood education thanks to Government funding for a new pre-school in Arrowtown.
Arrowtown Community Preschool received over $600,000 in funding as part of $8.9 million in grants from the Discretionary Grants Scheme, recently announced by Government.
Access to early childhood education has been an issue for many families in this area and I am pleased that we have been able to address that through this funding.
This money will be a relief for the many parents in and around Arrowtown who have campaigned for some time to get this project off the ground. It will also mean that even more preschoolers will now be able to get the sort of educational start that they deserve.
Arrowtown is a great little community and I know that they will value and support their new preschool. I am delighted that they have been successful in securing the funding that will turn their vision into a reality.
The company behind the proposed $150 million monorail linking Queenstown and Milford Sound hopes new answers to questions raised by the Department of Conservation will give the project added momentum.
Riverside Holdings chief executive Bob Robertson said it had spent more than eight months working on an environmental impact assessment that should address issues raised in a "comprehensive" audit of the proposal.
The company wants to take passengers from Queenstown to Lake Te Anau via a catamaran journey across Lake Wakatipu, followed by a 45-kilometre all- terrain vehicle trip to Kiwi Burn near the Mavora lakes, and a 41km monorail trip to Te Anau Downs on the Milford road.
The proposed route of the ATV trip is likely to follow the planned cycleway loop through the Von Valley towards Lake Mavora. But it is not clear how the "Around the Mountain Trail" would affect the monorail proposal.
Mr Robertson said although some new initiatives and schemes that might relate to it were being proposed, he was unable to comment until the new information was lodged.
An application for an easement for the monorail across DOC land was lodged in late 2006 but a subsequent audit had highlighted various matters that needed to be covered in the environmental impact assessment.
The original reports had not gone into finer details because the company did not want to spend money developing the project before a clearer indication of its future was available, Mr Robertson said.
"We have had a delay for a number of reasons. The original application wasn't accepted in its entirety and more questions had to be asked and we had to upgrade our submission significantly.
"That's finally been put together and we intend to lodge that in about three weeks."
If DOC supported the proposal, public submissions would be sought.
The monorail is one of several proposals to improve transport links between Queenstown and Milford Sound.
Milford Dart Ltd wants to build a 10.2km tunnel between the Routeburn and Hollyford valleys. Managing director Tom Elworthy said it hoped to have a draft decision from DOC in about two months.
If DOC approved the proposal, the public would also have a chance to comment, Mr Elworthy said.
United States billionaire and philanthropist Julian Robertson has been granted permission from the Overseas Investment Office to buy Matakauri Lodge, near Queenstown.
The office has approved a 100 per cent purchase of the property by Waiaua Bay Farm Ltd, a wholly owned company of Mr Robertson's, for a confidential sum. However, Queenstown media have reported the sale was understood to be worth $12 million.
"The applicant intends to acquire Matakauri Lodge, temporarily shut it down and refurbish it," a Land Information New Zealand document says.
"The applicant will then operate it as a going concern."
Six kilometres from Queenstown on the Glenorchy Road, the luxury lodge features suites and villas that have been available for up to $7382 a night in the high season.
New York-based Mr Robertson made headlines in May when it was announced he was donating 15 art works worth a reported $115 million to the Auckland Art Gallery.
He also developed and owns the Kauri Cliffs golf resort in Northland and the Cape Kidnappers golf course in Hawke's Bay.
Forbes last year estimated his worth at US$1.3 billion.
Remarkables Primary School is awaiting approval from the Education Ministry for its enrolment zone for next year before it can start taking enrolments, with just 13 weeks of the school year remaining.
School board chairman Roy Thompson said the school was unable to put its enrolment zone proposal to the ministry until the ministry announced whether Wakatipu High School would retain Years 7 & 8 and whether Queenstown Primary School would gain them. That announcement came 10 days ago with Wakatipu High to lose Years 7 & 8 and Queenstown Primary to gain them from next year.
Remarkables Primary will cater for Years 1 to 8, but will not be taking on Years 7 & 8 students until 2012. It will open at the start of next year with just Years 1 to 2 pupils for the first two terms, building up to Year 4 at the start of term 3. Mr Thompson said he expected the school could have about 200 pupils by the end of next year.
He said he hoped the ministry could approve the school's enrolment zone proposal within a week or two so it could go out to the public for a definitive zone before opening up enrolments. Any student within the zone would be guaranteed a place at Remarkables Primary. Students within the zone but already attending Queenstown Primary School will have school bus transport supplied until the end of 2012, but from then on will have to find their own transport if they stay at Queenstown Primary.
The proposed zone for Remarkables Primary School would be Frankton, Kelvin Heights, Jacks Point, Quail Rise and Lake Hayes Estate. All other areas were likely to come under the Queenstown zone with Arrowtown's enrolment zone likely to stay the same.
Mr Thompson said the new school was taking shape with a principal, deputy principal and two senior teachers with supervisory responsibilities.
Later in the year we will hire teachers and we will hire based on individual merit.
Meanwhile, with more than a dozen Wakatipu High School teachers likely to be affected and Queenstown Primary School as yet unsure how many teachers it will require under the reorganisation next year, the PPTA (Post Primary Teachers Association) and NZEI (New Zealand Education Institute) are both getting involved to ensure the teachers' rights are protected.
Wakatipu High School has had to halt plans for a new $1.3 million classroom block, after Education Minister Anne Tolley announced this month Years 7 and 8 students would be dropped from its roll next year. School board chairman Peter Doyle said the board was considering whether or not to appeal the decision, which was a total shock and did not appear to be based on any practical reasons.
More Expansion For Queenstown Airport
31st August 2009
The arrival of two new airlines to Queenstown Airport within three months has forced a $600,000 expansion of the airport building to accommodate additional check-in facilities.
Jetstar began domestic flights in and out of the resort on June 10 and Pacific Blue is due to start international services from Saturday.
Queenstown Airport finance and property manager Karen Castiglione said the check-in hall now needed to be extended, with construction due to start on September 14.
Changes to the terminal would include the renovation of a veranda area, the relocation of a duty-free store and the addition of a 16-computer internet lounge.
The job, expected to cost about $600,000, was being put out for tender this week.
Ms Castiglione said the airport would carry the cost of the rebuild, although this would likely be covered in time by the increased passenger traffic the new airlines generated. The extension comes less than two years after a $31 million redevelopment of the airport was completed.
The airport's master plan had always provided for the veranda expansion as part of the staged expansions for the airport.
Pacific Blue would use temporary check-in desks until construction was complete.
The inaugural New Zealand Winter Games have been hailed a huge success as organisers and participants celebrated the closure of the much-lauded 10-day competition on August 30.
The inaugural games closed at Coronet Peak after 10 days of competition involving 800 athletes from 40 countries. Not even rain and blustery winds could dampen spirits on the final day of competition with all in agreement it all had been an exceptional winter-sports outing.
Games founder, prominent Queenstown-based businessman Sir Eion Edgar was a very happy man, saying the Winter Games had exceeded the expectations of all involved. The level of competition had been extremely high and visiting athletes had raved about their experience, Sir Eion said.
Broadcast to about 500 million viewers worldwide, the games had put Otago on the map.
Discussions would be held among partners to decide when and how the games should be staged again, but Sir Eion understood there was strong support for a return in two years.
hoamz Ltd.
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