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Ethical developers who are offering affordable sections for first home buyers means demand in Queenstown for new builds is stronger than ever, with 25 sections recently snapped up within 30 minutes of going on sale.

Hanley’s Farm in Queenstown (a 10-minute drive from Frankton) offers 400m² sections for $320,000 and means a brand-new home can be built for as little as $650,000 in total.

“The developers, RCL, are doing the right thing by the community,” says Ethan Smith, Director of Golden Homes Southern Lakes. “They have a rare covenant in place so people can’t on-sell the land without having built on it first. That means people can’t simply make money by sitting on the land and not adding to the housing stock which is a really good thing in my opinion.”

Golden Homes is currently building 30 to 50 homes a year at Hanley’s Farm. The latest release of 25 sections – 18 of which were in the ‘affordable’ category – went on the market one day in mid-February at 8am and were sold out by 8:30am.

“In an overheated market like Queenstown this is a really good thing because land values continue to go up and up and there isn’t a lot of land here. RCL aren’t selling to builders, they’re selling direct to the public because the demand is so strong.”

Golden Homes is also working alongside Lane Hocking of Universal Developments on his new 500-lot Longview development at Lake Hāwea which will begin selling sections in March. It’s been deemed a Special Housing Area and will offer a wide variety of affordable house and land packages.

Such developments appealed to first home buyers because it allowed them to access a KiwiSaver HomeStart grant which offers a couple up to $20,000 if they build a new home and have been contributing to KiwiSaver for at least five years.

“It is definitely possible to do a $650,000 house and land package but people need to have realistic expectations. You’re not going to get tiled showers and pitched ceilings and 250m² houses. It is a stepping-stone home, but it is brand new, warm and insulated – the oven has never had food in it, the cooktop has never had a pan on it, the shower has never had a person in it. And those houses are then valued at $800,000+ straight off the bat.

“A lot of people have written off Queenstown as being an unaffordable market, but developers here are doing a good job so it’s not all doom and gloom. The processes that Hanley’s Farm, for example, have put in place allows first home buyers to make those capital gains instead of speculators and builders.”

Smith says Golden Homes will continue to work alongside good developers to ensure people can get onto the property ladder. “We want to help people build their next home, and their next home after that. We take a long-term approach to doing business and want to help people by doing smart deals with developers.”

Bayley’s real estate agent Jimmy Allen, who is exclusively marketing Hanley’s Farm, confirms demand is extremely strong which is at odds with many of the negative news reports about Queenstown’s post-COVID economy.

“I think the general public is probably surprised at the level of demand, yes. But I’m not surprised. Queenstown’s had a lot of growth. It’s an amazing place to live and it doesn’t matter what’s going on in the world, there’s always going to be people who want to live here.”

Interested in property around Queenstown? Contact the Golden Homes Southern Lakes team on 03 441 4929.