Queenstown not off the radar for first home buyers

Figures from Cotality show the number of first home buyers made up 19% of all the district’s property purchases last year – an 18 year high.

This is despite the country’s wealthiest town hitting a record median of $1.7 million, up about 20% on 2024.

While other parts of the country saw flatter growth or even dips in 2025, Queenstown-Lakes values have continued to rise significantly and show no sign of slowing either, as the pace of value growth over the past three months exceeded 0.4%.

Property prices rose sharply in 2021 when interest rates were about 2.5%, but unlike the rest of the country they have only fallen 4.4% from their peak, Cotality research shows. In the country’s main centres, Auckland and Wellington, prices have dropped 23.4% and 25.4% respectively.