New Zealand: Drawing a blank on housing

…Such lifestyle trends are helping shape the market. It’s a familiar story by now: people are supposedly busier than ever; they don’t want to lose their weekends to mowing lawns and painting weatherboards. They like to eat out. Peak oil has sharpened their interest in living closer to town.

The boom has coincided, happily, with the city council’s vision of corralling future population growth as much as possible within existing urban limits, and is being driven, too, by a ready pool of “mum and dad” property investors. Many, perhaps most, of the apartments being built for the lower end of the market in Christchurch are being bought to be rented out. Given the cost of land and a planning context that allows them a fairly free hand to build what they like within certain basic height and coverage restrictions, it’s no surprise developers are squeezing on as many units as they can.


Auckland-based developer Gary Gordon, who has three low-rise developments on the go in central Christchurch, is hoping to build 1000 apartments here by the end of the decade. He says there are more opportunities and better rental returns for investors than in the over-developed Auckland market.

Traditionally, apartment developments in Christchurch have been larger, more expensive, owner-occupier-type developments. In contrast, Gordon is chasing the $250,000 to $400,000 buyer, with apartments that range in size from 100sq m down to 60sq m.

“We are building always within council rules in terms of maximum height, width and coverage … It is about maximising the value of the land.”

Stuff