Property Investment
4 min read
Author: Ed McKnight
Our Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.
Reviewed by: Andrew Nicol
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Property investors often ask me “Where’s the best place to buy a property right now?”
Without fail, as soon as I answer, people follow it up with “But, what about [insert area here]”
So in this article I’m going to rank all 67 council areas in New Zealand. We’ll sort them into:
🟢 Green – I like it as an investment
🟢 Leaning Green – I’m keeping my eye on it
🟡 Yellow – It doesn’t impress me
🔴 Leaning Red – I’d tend to stay away
🔴 Red – I don’t recommend them
Of course, you can disagree with where I put an area. Good. Let me know down in the comments section and we can have a good discussion.
Afterall, I can look at the data. But I’m not on the ground in all 67 areas. So, there is a chance I’ve missed something. These lists are just to tell you where my head is at.
I only care about finding the best areas for our clients at Opes Partners. So, if you know something I don’t, write a comment at the end of this article.
Here’s the full list of every council area in New Zealand.
They’re in no particular order. So the one at the top of the green section isn’t necessarily better than the one at the bottom of the green section.
Don’t forget, you can use the search bar to find the areas you care about, and make sure you click through the pages to see all you the areas.
Here are my top places to invest.
These areas tend to be the most undervalued parts of New Zealand.
They’re not always the cheapest or highest yielding parts of the country.
But that’s where you can look for properties that are more affordable and have higher yields in these areas.
The “Leaning Green” areas are the ones I’m keeping my eye on. I’m not in love with them (yet). But, over the next few years they have potential.
These areas tend to be on the undervalued side. But they might be on a downward trajectory in their property cycle.
The “Yellow” areas are ones in the middle. They’re not the best. But, they’re not the worst either.
You’ll notice a few areas have good data. But, they’re still a “Yellow”.
The West Coast is an example of this. Properties in this region are cheap. They also have high yields and appear undervalued.
But, I wouldn’t personally invest there. The population is low (and declining). So I’ve made a value judgement to put them in the “Yellow” category.
The “Leaning Red” areas tend to be cheaper areas with high yields. But, they’re also very overvalued. If they weren’t so overvalued, they’d probably be at the top of my “Green” list.
If you like to renovate or are investing for cash flow, these places could still be a go-er.
My “Red” areas are places that have the trifecta of bad data. They’re expensive, have low yields and are overvalued.
That doesn’t mean that every property in these areas is bad. It just means that if I was looking for a good deal, I wouldn’t start here.
Our Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.
Ed, our Resident Economist, is equipped with a GradDipEcon, a GradCertStratMgmt, BMus, and over five years of experience as Opes Partners' economist. His expertise in economics has led him to contribute articles to reputable publications like NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, OneRoof, Stuff, and Business Desk. You might have also seen him share his insights on television programs such as The Project and Breakfast.
