Queenstown area hits NZ’s record $1.6m average house price but locals are being priced out of paradise

Tuesday, 4 November 2025

The Central Otago-Lakes region has become the first in New Zealand with an average asking price over $1.6 million, far outpacing incomes and the rest of the country’s housing market.

It’s famous for its million-dollar views and now it takes more than a million and a half dollars to permanently wake up to one.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has hit a record high average asking price of $1.6 million, making it the most expensive region in the country.

Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz says it’s a milestone moment.

“Fascinatingly the Central Otago lakes district has hit a record high of over $1.6m this month and that is the highest we've ever seen and the first region to hit the $1.6m mark,” she said.

Williams says Queenstown’s market has defied national trends.

“We are talking really big money here and what I think's really interesting is that region for whatever reason has sort of been immune to the economic challenges that we have seen across most of the other regions.”

Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon says Queenstown operates in its own economic bubble.

“Queenstown does beat to a bit of a different drum and so it hasn't seen this quite the same downturn as the rest of the country in recent times. It has a relatively resilient construction sector because it's still so popular and people want to move down and move into a new house.”

But while homes there command big money, wages don’t. The district’s average income is 13.9% lower than the national average.

“When we look at their affordability, the average house value, it's 12 times the average household income. So, it's really clear that the average house in Queenstown is not being bought by someone on an average Queenstown income. They're being bought by people on higher incomes locally or being bought by people that can bring wealth from other parts of the country… whether that's coming from a city elsewhere in New Zealand, retiring or coming in from overseas,” Brunsdon said.

He says even the rental market looks different in Queenstown.

“Their rental market functions differently to the rest of the country, they've got a high rate of flatting and that reflects they have to flat with other people to afford those rentals too.”

Nationally, the average asking price for a residential property rose just 1.1% over the past year to $862,000. But in Central Otago-Lakes, prices jumped 18.9%.

Williams says it’s easy to see why people are willing to pay a premium.

“You can do winter sports, summer sports, there's treks, there's international flights, it's really the Hamptons of New Zealand isn't it.”

But for locals, paradise has a price, and it’s higher than ever.