Thirty years of ups and downs but mostly ups
When Queenstown-based Colliers Otago releases its latest property review and outlook next Thursday, it'll mark 30 years of annual insights and projections across the residential, commercial and lifestyle sectors.
Till the Colliers franchise produced the report in 2008, it had been produced by predecessors Robertson Valuations, Macpherson Valuation and Mac Property.
About 3500 complimentary copies are distributed each year, and the reports are now also stored, in digitised format, at Arrowtown's Lakes District Museum, so anyone can access them.
"We are incredibly proud it has been recognised in this way," says Colliers Otago's valuation director Heather Beard, who oversees the publication.
Colliers Queenstown's sales and leading director Alastair Wood says "it's been a great ride for property over that last 30 years".
"While there's been a few bumps along the way, the capital gains have far outweighed the market corrections over the long term. Population growth, both residential and tourism, has been the catalyst.
"The real challenge going forward will be to keep up infrastructure with growth."
Wood says the GFC was probably the largest correction in pricing he's seen over the 30 years, with the collapse of finance companies leaving developers with no funding for half-completed projects.
"As a result, development land lost between 50 to 70% of its value and numerous apartment developments were selling down managed apartments at close to 50% of their previous values.
"It took a long time to recover from that one."
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