buying in Kingston? Qtown area

[skid]

My daughter's partner is keen on buying something in the general area of Queenstown where they are settling.
Obviously Queenstown is way out of there league but he has noticed the Kingston area and was considering it as a way to get something in the general area for future growth.
Ive never been there but am concerned it may be a back water area with prices on the downtrend.
Id be interested in any ones opinion who is familiar with the area.
Would anyone consider commuting to Qtown or the slopes from there?
Is there a chance of capital gain rubbing off from Qtown or is it just money for something that will stagnate?
Would it be an area that would be rentable?
I have seen on the stats that only 1 place sold recently for 17%below GV.
The other issue is that he can only afford a tiny place that would need work

Opinions would be well appreciated Cheers

[Orpheus1]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.
If I had to pick Id pick cromwell over kingston as it has more services.
Why doesn't he look at the shot over country sub division in between frankton and lake hayes thats where all the families are moving and the most affordable area in queens town. 425k for a 3bed 2 bath new build.

O

[JBM]

Yeah Kingston caught between a east / west mountain ranges open to the cold southern winds / 45min devil staircase drive to frankton ... All depends on their budget I,ve lived in Queenstown since 99 living and building
In most of qtn locations currently at lake Hayes .. Yes if you don,t mind little view , Power lines overhead ,small 350sqm sites and 130-150sqm homes then Shotover country is good buying 425k+ does seem like the Bronx when compared to its next door neighbour Lake Hayes est..decent house 600k+ 800sqm+ sites 200sqm+ houses
....if are qtn house sells we are heading to Cromwell

[Winston001]

I have an affection for Kingston having holidayed there as a child, but my immediate response to the OP was the same - Cromwell.

There was talk of a daily bus commuting from Kingston to Queenstown and maybe it exists - in fact it ran from Lumsden. There are to the best of my knowledge bus/es from Cromwell and plenty of people live there to work in the Lakes Basin.

[skid]

Thanx for the input--Im getting a much clearer picture now--Cold winds --Difficult drive to Q town--doesnt sound good.
I had a quick look at the actual queenstown area prices--Yikes!!.--At first glance it seems to have passed Auckland.

[skid]

Apparently its the only place he has a chance of buying with his budget and he says they are starting to build developements and a supermarket. ???

[JBM]

Apparently its the only place he has a chance of buying with his budget and he says they are starting to build developements and a supermarket. ???

Yeah major developments for many years here skid ...personal he should look through least 10 properties in Queenstown and Cromwell
we spent easter looking a many newish Cromwell properties 400-500k price range IMHO your looking round 150-200k more to have the same
style house in Queenstown .....so round 30-40% more expensive....

[Orpheus1]

Yeah major developments for many years here skid ...personal he should look through least 10 properties in Queenstown and Cromwell
we spent easter looking a many newish Cromwell properties 400-500k price range IMHO your looking round 150-200k more to have the same
style house in Queenstown .....so round 30-40% more expensive....

Yeah exactly but the difference is in land value.
If he needs somewhere to live then cromwell would be a good and the commute to Queenstown for work is better.

In 10 years Queenstown has a much better chance than anywhere south of Christchurch for CG.
If he buys in Cromwell in 10 years he will have a nice place to live but won't be as far ahead than if buying well in QT.

And if his budget is that small maybe you should shake him and explain he is moving to one of the most expensive areas in Austral-asia!!!

O

[JBM]

Yeah exactly but the difference is in land value.
If he needs somewhere to live then cromwell would be a good and the commute to Queenstown for work is better.

In 10 years Queenstown has a much better chance than anywhere south of Christchurch for CG.
If he buys in Cromwell in 10 years he will have a nice place to live but won't be as far ahead than if buying well in QT.

And if his budget is that small maybe you should shake him and explain he is moving to one of the most expensive areas in Austral-asia!!!

O

Yes maybe take a basic newish sunning location 3-4brm 170-200sqm in both locations on a decent section of free-hold land my average findings

Queenstown - $580k
Cromwell - $450k

Now you could say Qtn property should increase faster % wise...lets say 30% in 10yrs for both which would mean

Queenstown-$754k
Cromwell-$585k

For us as a Family we are thinking cromwell will be just as good investment once you add in less direct capital lower rates/insurance
and just as good resale after a 30% rise over 10yrs est.

[Orpheus1]

Yes maybe take a basic newish sunning location 3-4brm 170-200sqm in both locations on a decent section of free-hold land my average findings

Queenstown - $580k
Cromwell - $450k

Now you could say Qtn property should increase faster % wise...lets say 30% in 10yrs for both which would mean

Queenstown-$754k
Cromwell-$585k

For us as a Family we are thinking cromwell will be just as good investment once you add in less direct capital lower rates/insurance
and just as good resale after a 30% rise over 10yrs est.

why would you ever sell?
and I'd be surprised if Cromwell kept up with QT.
but yes lots of maybes, I have all my apples on the future of QT like I think you may have had 5 or 10 years ago when you first started commenting on QT.

just curious as you've built and sold many here in QT seems your moving away from the longterm prospects for QT? If not why are you selling and not holding?

or or holding and renting in Cromwell?
and the money you save on rates will get swallowed up in fuel commuting?

O

[JBM]

why would you ever sell?
and I'd be surprised if Cromwell kept up with QT.
but yes lots of maybes, I have all my apples on the future of QT like I think you may have had 5 or 10 years ago when you first started commenting on QT.

just curious as you've built and sold many here in QT seems your moving away from the longterm prospects for QT? If not why are you selling and not holding?

or or holding and renting in Cromwell?
and the money you save on rates will get swallowed up in fuel commuting?

O

I don't work in Qtn so doesn't worry me where I live as long as it's not to far away from Bluff (where I work on a F.V 10-14days at a time for round 120 days a year)....bit like a miner but instead of fly in fly out I drive ...

Why I'm thinking about moving away from Qtn property wise is because I think it's getting a bit 2006(topping out land price wise) ...if we can get a good dollar for our Qtn house we will likely buy debt free a family home in cromwell and invest the rest of the capital in higher yielding investments ..and sit back a grow our capital base to maybe even buy again in Qtn ...it's much easier to buy than sell high priced property

[Orpheus1]

Yes maybe take a basic newish sunning location 3-4brm 170-200sqm in both locations on a decent section of free-hold land my average findings

Queenstown - $580k
Cromwell - $450k

Now you could say Qtn property should increase faster % wise...lets say 30% in 10yrs for both which would mean

Queenstown-$754k
Cromwell-$585k

For us as a Family we are thinking cromwell will be just as good investment once you add in less direct capital lower rates/insurance
and just as good resale after a 30% rise over 10yrs est.

And and sorry to back up here but of you were buying a 450k house in Cromwell I would assume this is a new build and the majority of the price (almost all) would be house.

now if you were buying in Queenstown with the exception of say lake Hayes, fern hill, shotover country where it's mostly first home buyers and again cheap land and expensive houses put on cheap land. Then you could buy a central property with the majority of the purchase price land based and then just hold and of course hope etc!

anyway don't see the appeal of buying anywhere down here other than Queenstown for living/ investing/ speculating vs just having a place to call home and living in a beautiful part of the world.

O

[Orpheus1]

I don't work in Qtn so doesn't worry me where I live as long as it's not to far away from Bluff (where I work on a F.V 10-14days at a time for round 120 days a year)....bit like a miner but instead of fly in fly out I drive ...

Why I'm thinking about moving away from Qtn property wise is because I think it's getting a bit 2006(topping out land price wise) ...if we can get a good dollar for our Qtn house we will likely buy debt free a family home in cromwell and invest the rest of the capital in higher yielding investments ..and sit back a grow our capital base to maybe even buy again in Qtn ...it's much easier to buy than sell high priced property

ah ah now I can see where your going but still don't agree with the selling to buy back later. Especially selling an asset that has performed well to buy in an area that is in the sticks so to speak to eventually buy again in a winning location.

i thought I was speculating by holding?

no offence!! I'm just curious as I've been investing here for 4 years and have 3 houses which I hold. And I think you've been here for ages and have bought and sold many over that time


O

[JBM]

ah ah now I can see where you're going but still don't agree with the selling to buy back later. Especially selling an asset that has performed well to buy in an area that is in the sticks so to speak to eventually buy again in a winning location.

I thought I was speculating by holding?

No offence!! I'm just curious as I've been investing here for 4 years and have 3 houses which I hold. And I think you've been here for ages and have bought and sold many over that time


O

Everyone's lifestyle is different with different needs and wants....Us with two rag-rats & large dog and still a good sized morg we have many opts one is to continue to pay the interest on the loan which currently is cheaper than renting (even though it's heading upwards of late) Or sell out and have a large amount of capital to invest with enough to be debt free in a 450k Cromwell home and still have enough to buy a couple high yielding SI rentals without having to the LVR north of 60%.....and top up my ASX portfolio .....
If I was a single man then of course Qtn is the place to be...

As to Qtn being the winner and the likes of cromwell being a backwater I highly recommend you go for a drive round the place one subdivision I drove through was choke full of 1mill+ homes ...just try finding a rental property...think population is just under 5000
is now the biggest town for Central Otago (just like Queenstown is for the Lakes district)

IMHO Cromwell is like a Qtn 20yrs ago ...the Race track can only be a bonus ..that and the fact it's only 30-35min drive to the booming Frankton (whats the average drive in CHCH / WELL / AUC to CBD from family areas)

[JBM]

Also I have kept many old Southern lakes property press papers think I find many prime Queenstown hill properties asking prices not all that different from 04 to present compared to the likes of the cheaper family areas Arrowtown/Frankton went from first time buyers to now very higher end part of the market ...how about your properties ?