Tauranga: Investing in sunshine

In little over 25 years, sunny Tauranga city, Bay of Plenty's largest populated centre, has tripled in size.

With a population estimate of 118,200, it is the ninth largest New Zealand city and the centre of the country's fifth largest urban area. But has a cloud descended on the popular lifestyle city's property market?

QV research director, Jonno Ingerson and Tauranga QV valuer, Shayne Donovan-Grammar, say that unlike many of the other main centres, there has been very little recovery in values since the market low and values are still 9.70% below the market peak.

"Based on our house price index (not average sales prices), from the peak of the market in late 2007 to the low in early 2009, property values in Tauranga dropped 10.80%."