Queenstown news and more...

  A downtown backpackers is spurring another food and beverage precinct in Queenstown.  The owners of well-known Dunedin student haunt, Captain Cook Tavern, are fitting out a 250sq m bar on ground floor premises opposite the 320-bed Nomads backpackers. »»

  Increased demand is fuelling a development spree around Frankton’s Remarkables Park shopping centre. For the first time, Remarkables Park developers, brothers Alastair, John and Neville Porter, have put significant commercial land around the centre up for sale. »»

  Real estate in the Wakatipu usually jumps in January – not this year.  Sales were down a third, average selling time stretched beyond two months – and prices dipped.  How come – and what’s the outlook? »»

It’s home movies but not as you’d know it. A Queenstown graphic designer has developed internet technology for video home tours that are becoming a major tool for local realtors and seem likely to catch on further afield. Umoview director Jack Williams calls it a “24/7 video open home”. Using high-definition “steadicam” cameras, his team produce a video “walkthrough” of a property to put »»

Wakatipu’s residential market has come through 2009 in far better shape than the slump of 2008. Despite a year-end blip, the latest real estate statistics confirm the recovery. Sales volumes for every month apart from July and December were up on the same month the year before. The figures are a clear indication the property market is over the slump that hit it in 2008 for the Real Institute Institute’s Wakatipu spokesman »»

Keen to start the new decade by becoming a Wakatipu homeowner instead of just a tenant? Mountain Scene put eight local realtors to the test – show us a family home that’s your “best buy” right now. So let’s take the tour:   Quail Rise pearler Harcourts auctions a family home at 13 Wellswood Way, Quail Rise next Wednesday. »»

You could say the Queenstown property scene endured some shaky foundations in 2009. Here’s some of the more memorable shudders. Hendo’s Hole sold, hope for Kawarau Falls The fate of developer Dave Henderson’s excavated hole for his aborted Five Mile township and Nigel McKenna’s equally ambitious Kawarau Falls Station are two local projects to make national headlines. After Five Mile’s receivership in 2008, the »»

It’s that time of year when many residents leave the Wakatipu for a holiday – but it’s also a time when burglars get busy. The last thing anyone wants to come back to after a well-earned break is a ransacked house. But Queenstown police warn that New Year traditionally brings a spike in domestic break-ins and opportunistic thefts. »»

As Queenstown Lakes District Council’s subsidised-housing quango completes another five low-entry homes, its chairman is urging the Government to address affordability problems. »»

When Queenstown architects announce they’re off to an AA meeting don’t assume it’s Alcoholics Anonymous. That’s because this year a dozen young architects have started a practice support group called Architects Anonymous Queenstown. »»

Like lawyers elsewhere, local legal eagles are frowning at a new sales and purchase agreement. Maurice Maxwell of Berry and Co. advises clients not to use the new contract and Alan Harper of AWS Legal warns people – whether buying or selling – not to sign it without legal advice. »»

Expect a thinning of the ranks of the Wakatipu’s 114 real estate agents as a new law overhauls the industry. Under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008, which became effective on November 17, salespeople all have to be licensed and there’s an independent complaints process at last. »»

  Stunning Wakatipu buildings star at the Southern Architecture Awards We all know Queenstown’s got great scenery – but how about some of its buildings? »»

    Council boffin says there’s sections galore for new residents   If you think the Wakatipu’s over-developed you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. »»

A small, award-winning accommodation chain is taking over Queenstown’s original boutique hotel. The 40-room Nugget Point, opened 22 years ago, will be managed by Southland-owned Distinction Hotel Group from December 1. »»

Mark down November 2009 as the month central Queenstown becomes a crane-free and scaffolding-free zone. An almost non-stop development boom in the resort’s CBD has finally come to a halt with the near-completion of Skyline Enterprises’ two-level building on the high-profile Rees/Beach Streets corner. »»

Mortgagee meltdowns and crashed developments haven’t dented a leading banker’s confidence in Queenstown property. Westpac business banking boss Ian Blair received a harsh reminder of Queenstown’s property casualties on the very day he winged in last week to open his bank’s new Frankton branch. »»

Canny landlord swoops on two floors of five-star Sofitel hotel A Christchurch accommodation-property landlord has snapped up another slice of Queenstown’s troubled Sofitel Hotel complex. »»

Go-to site for property buyers A new Mountain Scene residential property website launched this week offers unprecedented full-scale coverage of the entire local real estate market. »»

Queenstown’s real estate sector is still buzzing over the promising price fetched at a recent apartment auction. Pounamu Apartments, on Frankton Road, had been typical of the resort’s distressed managed apartment sector in recent times. »»

Shopping centre defies downturn with $40m expansion As Queenstown’s CBD enters a development lull, large-scale construction is set to start again at the resort’s other town centre. »»

Resort fast becoming winter favourite for Aussies The so-called “Macquarie millionaires” could prop up Queenstown’s “ground zero” real estate market, says a prominent New Zealand finance commentator. »»

Don’t expect to find residential or industrial tenants in Queenstown’s newest retail/office complex. Lindsay Williams, who with wife Di has developed the Frankton roundabout’s $25 million Terrace Junction, says some commercial areas of Queenstown have “a confusing jumble of incompatible businesses”. »»

Starting small: Arrow Private Htotel developer Tim Hemingway plans to boost his new five-room boutique offering to 21 rooms once established Developers to open $450-a-night hotel in Arrowtown Dare to be different is the motto of property developers aiming to shake up Arrowtown accommodation. »»

Danger intersection’s fix to link to growing Quail Rise Quail Rise and the Frankton Flats are about to join hands. Quail Rise developer David Broomfield is initiating a private plan change to permit up to 115 houses opposite the Frankton Flats, north of State Highway 6. »»

Popular properties at high and low-end of pricing spectrum Opposite ends of the residential market are the most active, according to a report on Queenstown property released today. Properties priced either below $600,000 or over $1 million are selling better than those in-between, notes Colliers International valuer John Scobie. »»

Surge in CBD space sparks a cut-throat contest for tenants You might think landlords set rents but that’s not how a major Queenstown property player struck a deal last week. Looking for a café-restaurant operator to lease the last vacant space in its almost-completed $12. »»

The site’s half-dug – complete with consent for new Hilton Hotel. If Hendo’s Hole is a bit rich for your blood, you could always look at the Hilton Hole. Bayleys Queenstown this weekend embarks on an international campaign for mortgagee tenders on the semi-excavated 1. »»

  It’s a tenants’ market for first time since late 90s, say letting agents. More accommodation available for rent, fewer people coming through – add those together and you get a tenants’ market. Queenstown letting agents confirm rents are coming down, just as property prices are. »»

  Millbrook trumpets $20m property sales for year Millbrook Resort property bosses claim this year’s sales figures prove quality wins through in tough times. Since January, the high-end golf resort near Arrowtown has sold real estate worth $20,045,500. »»