One for the KIWI'S

[cat man do]

Hi all,

Any of the Kiwi's on here got any thought's on Invercargill in the South as a place to base oneself at.

I'd imagine it could get cool, and the water would get lumpy, but are there good boaty facilities, Job prospect's, toxic waste dump's, big red target's for future nuclear strike's or anything else that I should know about if wanting to possibly get a place there.

Thank's in advance for responses.

Dave

[KIWI]

Hi Dave ,

I see your from Brisbane, You will be in for a shock shifting to Invercargill , Its not by the water ,wamp and mud flats close to town , The nearest port is Bluff about 20 miles away and thats mainly a fishing port there's no marina as such good launching ramps for small craft its mainly set up for fishing boats, You are close to Foveaux strait that runs between the mainland and Stewart Island and thats one mean strech of water,
I hear a lot about the area as thats where my wife comes from
I live in the Moulborough sounds top of the south Island .
If I can help just yell!!!!!
Cheers Graham

[cat man do]

Thanks for the reply Kiwi,

I am Brisbane based at the moment, but we are also trying to get a few spot's around the trap's that we can retire/run away to that are stiil cheap to buy with multihull access.

I've always wanted to do NZ, i'll admit North Island is probably more my speed as I've never seen snow, But I have been reading up about significant OIL,GAS and COAL reserves in the area and thought it may be another Mackay, Rockhampton or Perth.

Cheap as chip's one day and Hideously expensive the next.

To my way of thinking some of the houses seem like a fair price and some seem to be close to water like this one

Real Estate New Zealand - allrealestate.co.nz

Any one else heard or know anything ?

Dave

[NoTies]

Invercargill can occasionally give the impression of being vibrant but you have to be in the right place at the right time. Stewart Island just across the ditch offers some excellent cruising as do the fiords. Facilities are very limited but the cost of living is near the cheapest in NZ. Yes, it will be cold but not all the time. I lived on Stewart Island for 5 years and managed to swim in the sea on odd occasions for fun and did a bit of commercial diving but it was 8mm wetsuit stuff when you're in all day. It's biggest advantage apart is close proximity to some wonderful natural places and distance from the urban ratrace is the low cost of living.

[Boracay]

The half of my family that came from the Bay of Islands area seemed to think it was wonderful, but I only went there as a child.

[KIWI]

I lived in Aussie for 22 years and loved it, But being a Kiwi I though time to come home ,Dollar for dallor its much the same you have your cheap places and the high prices, cars are cheaper but it all ballances out over all if you want somthing cheap you will have to go where no one else wants to go thats why its cheap down there , You pay for what you get , The west coast may be a better bet , But even around here in the sounds or Nelson or Golden bay you can still pick somthing at a good price that may need a little TLC.
Graham

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by KIWI

I lived in Aussie for 22 years and loved it, But being a Kiwi I though time to come home ,Dollar for dallor its much the same you have your cheap places and the high prices, cars are cheaper but it all ballances out over all if you want somthing cheap you will have to go where no one else wants to go thats why its cheap down there , You pay for what you get , The west coast may be a better bet , But even around here in the sounds or Nelson or Golden bay you can still pick somthing at a good price that may need a little TLC.
Graham

Invercargill has a pop. of around 50,000 so should have a bit of infrastructure, hospital's, school's , shopping centres and I would assume a bit of industry.

It sound's like a lot of other places that have done not much and I realize that not many people want to go there...............yet .

The West coast may be a better bet on the surface, but does it have the pottential for massive capital growth like Invercargill.

I have found no evidence of any resource exploration work being done in this area

It seem's obvious that it has a stigma attached to the area at the moment. Care to fill me in with details?

Dave

[KIWI]

Hi Dave ,

Its a hard one,My wife's sister has just shifted from Invercargill to Chistchurch and your right it is booming pricewise I know they talk about the price they got for there house and what the price it is now, I think thats it , It used to be dirt cheap and a lot of people have been shifting down yonder because of that its still cheap but not like it was years ago , Its got great infurstructure its where they build the stabie alum. pontoon boat the best on the market ,I will admit I used to enjoy going down there to see my sister-inlaw also I'm a mad trout fisherman . The area is better suited for trailer boats because of the weather you can pull your boat out, But theres bloody good fishing when the weather is right also you have some of the best lakes in NZ to fish in , [if you like fishing]
As for the west coast I love it I'm also into 4wding and the trout fishing there is great, And from Graymouth you can go down to milford sounds and the blue fin tuna good for your cat !! Also check out Westport.
Cheers
Graham

[cat man do]

Thank's for that Kiwi

OK, now to spill what has been discovered about what is going on.

I did get a head's up on this from a contact on a property forum, but have looked into it all and IMHO it all seem's to stack up.

If this all pan's out there could be a good earn in it especially for NZ national's as they pay no Capital Gain's Tax from my understanding on all property purchases.

As stated previously this sort of mining activity once underway has made property prices in nearby OZ areas go up by 200% plus, Perth and suround's, Rockhampton , Darwin and Mackay as examples.

Do your own research, I am in no way an expert, but have had a good result in these Australian area's that had the same sort of thing happenning, so see no reason why it could not happen in this area.


This is the Quotable Value NZ Property Value Map for January 2007.




You'll note that Invercargill ($172,337) has the lowest mean of any of the locations featured on that map and that the next lowest (Dunedin) is almost $90k more expensive ($263,111).

Invercargill is also only 2 hours away from Queenstown - the most expensive NZ market with a mean of over $550k.

Invervegas also did 12.9% from Jan 06 to Jan 07 (2nd only to Rotorua) - although the Dec - Dec figures had the positions reversed (Inv @ 14.7% / R @ 14.5%).

But enough about figures, here are some facts:

- Invercargill's population (after falling a decade ago) is rising again

- The Southern Institute of Technology - which pioneered zero-fees tertiary study in NZ - has confirmed zero-fees for 2007, 2008, and 2009.

- In NZ you can get zero deposit home loans up to $200k. $200k buys you a nice home in Invercargill - what does it buy you in Auckland?

- Invercargill has the Invercargill Licensing Trust (one of only a few LTs remaining in NZ). Each year the ILT re-invests about $8m back into the community.

- Southland also has the Community Trust of Southland - as a result of the sale to Westpac of the old (community owned) Trust Bank. CTOS has about $200m in funds under management and each year they re-invest about $5-7m back into the local community.

- The ILT and CTOS are putting about $10-15 million per year back into the local economy through grants, and capital projects such as Stadium Southland, the Civic Theatre (Opera standard), Splash Palace, and the recently completed indoor Velodrome (designed by the same designer as the Velodrome used in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games).

- For years there has been a push to secure direct flights to and from Australia. The airport has been upgraded to take jets, and it now has the 2nd longest runway in NZ. It is closer to Australia than any other airport, and is more reliable than both Queenstown and Dunedin airports. Qantas (for one) is reported to be close to commencing flights.

- And just off the coast there is the Great South Basin -

* * *

Bidding opens for oil and gas in Great South Basin
Monday, 31 July 2006, 2:12 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Government
Hon Harry Duynhoven
Associate Minister of Energy
1 August 2006 Media Statement

Opening of bidding round launches race for oil and gas in Great South Basin

Associate Energy Minister Harry Duynhoven today announced the much anticipated opening of bidding for new petroleum exploration permits in the Great South Basin off the south-eastern coast of Otago and Southland.

Mr Duynhoven confirmed that forty blocks are being offered for bidding, each approximately 9,000km2 in size. (That is 360,000 km2)

“This is perhaps the most exciting development in oil and gas exploration in New Zealand since the discovery of the Maui field almost 40 years ago. The Great South Basin has long been regarded as a region with enormous exploration potential
* * *

- Both Shell and Exxonmobil have expressed an interest in the GSB.

* * *

Power drilling: the search for our oil and gas

Although bidding for blocks in the Great South Basin opened more than six months ago, no oil major has yet put up its hand.

But that, said (Crown Minerals Manager) Feeley, was par for the course.

Just last week he was contacted again by an oil company which had sought information on the Great South Basin some months ago and was now wanting to return to talk about the bid process.

He is expecting the bids to arrive on his desk on the day bidding process closes on March 30.

Energy giants Exxonmobil and Shell have expressed interest. Chevron and BP are also understood to have visited New Zealand in the past six months to look at data

* * *

- The Southland region also has significant lignite (coal) reserves - "Venture Southland enterprise and strategic projects group manager Steve Canny said Southland was sitting on about 70 percent of New Zealand’s known lignite and fossil fuel reserves".

- There are gas reserves too - see Oil, Gas and Minerals in Southland

- The region is the gateway to the World Heritage Listed Fiordland National Park (Mitre Peak), not to mention NZ's 3rd island - Stewart Island

- And to cap it off - you have the lowest unemployment in NZ (2.8% / September Quarter 2006)




Yet despite all these things, Invercargill has the lowest median of any city in NZ.

When you think about what is happening in places like WA and Mackay where there are lots of minerals - does Invercargill sound like a city that is fully-valued ?

Also Check out -

L and M Group (mining company) website - there are numerous references to Southland in the latest news and press releases sections.


So head's up guy's, this may be an opportunity to get the cruising kitty pumped up.

I repeat, do your own research on this, I have no financial interest in any of this............. yet, but I am happy to share with others who may be able to take advantage of this before me.

Dave

[Boracay]

the Gold Goast.
Have a look there. It might seem strange, seeming as you probably know it so well, but if you are to find a bargain its a good place to start.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Chris31415

the Gold Goast.
Have a look there. It might seem strange, seeming as you probably know it so well, but if you are to find a bargain its a good place to start.

Not really interested in places that have less than average return's, only ones that get fast cap growth and positive cashflow on the rental returns, which the Gold Coast does not.

Anyway, way too many people at the GC and nowhere to park the boat unless very well off.

This was not posted as a place to retire to, but as a place to possibly get a great return on the $$$ tipped in.

Who want's to live in an area with offshore oilrig's, gas piplines and coalmines, except the workers paying $500/week on the house that cost $150k which could well have a value of $350k+.

Dave

[44'cruisingcat]

I wouldn't write Oz off yet Dave, rents are rising sharply, and are set to keep doing so - when rental returns start to look better, investors will start to buy, and then prices will start to rise.......

Re NZ, it's good to see the NZ ers use the average sales price, rather than the MEDIAN which is quoted here in Aus. I have no idea why they choose to use the median price here but it can be EXTREMELY misleading, as the figures for a whole area can be seriously skewed by the sale of one very expensive or cheap property.

Anyway it looks like Invercargill might just be a good investment opportunity. Might get the wife to check on rental returns over there......

[cat man do]

Rental return's at the moment seem to be about 5%, if all this get's up it would be a whole lot better IMHO.

I have far from written OZ off, all of our rentals are getting around 11% returns and in the last 2 year's increased in cap growth by on average 68% with the worst being 36% and the best being a whopping 182% for a 12 mth period.

I could see Invercargill having similar potential.

When I offload my next project , if I can't get simmilar return's in OZ still i'll have a go at Invercargill, maybe.

Dave

[Alan Wheeler]

Invercargill is an interesting place. Firstly, the further you go South, the more you seem to step back in time. I reckon Invercargill is forty years behind the rest of the country. I can't explain it, it is just they way the people are. It's kinda nice in some ways. They tend to be a little more "trustworthy" and down to earth kinda folks.
The place is damn cold though. It gets the big Southerly blasts of the Antarctic. Snow is common in the Winter and the cold wind and rain is normal offering all year around. They do get s few really lovely days as well though. It ain't all bad.
Bluff is a desolit windswept place. The straight across to Stewart Isl. is something else. Stewart Isl is one of the most beautiful places you will ever get to see on this planet, but it is wild in every way. Pete has had more experiance with the sea's down there than I have, but even on calm days, it is nothing to have 3-5 metre swells rolling through.
For me, as a place to live, NEVER!. If I could get into tourism or something on Stewart Isl then I would condsider that, but I would be packing several pairs of thick woolly socks.

[GMac]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Invercargill is an interesting place. Firstly, the further you go South, the more you seem to step back in time. I reckon Invercargill is forty years behind the rest of the country. I can't explain it, it is just they way the people are. It's kinda nice in some ways.

Basically the North Island is in the 2000's. As you cross Cook Straight you set your watch back approx. 10 years and another 10 years for every 100km further south you go

Was in Christchurch 2 years ago and did not realise a city can actually close. Night came and the place was completely shut, brilliant.

'Interesting place' = interesting way of saying it. Wheels standing for parliament I see and practicing the 'definite maybe'

Second the Stewart Island comments, a A1 100% magnificent spot. Crayfish of the size that can devour small boats..... yummy.