Queenstown - a buyers market ?

[The Great Gold Guru]

Hi all,

As a family we are considering moving to Queenstown for a lifestyle change for 3-4yrs until the kids hit secondary school age when we might consider moving back to Auckland.

We are just wondering if there are any locals on Sharetrader who could give us a few basic facts about the property market. There is a lot of press in the market that the Southern Lakes region has probably suffered the most in the property downturn.

Q1. Is the market down there on its knees ? ... We are tempted by Jack's Point but from what I hear it is still a ghost town with empty Fletcher Houses and little going on. For such a spectacular location is now the time to bag a bargain ? We are thinking of renting while we build a new house at Jack's Point after bagging a section for around $225-$250k. What is the local view of Jack's Point ... is it a over-priced, over-hyped "white elephant"?

Q2. Lake Hayes Estate ... not our prefered option as it strikes us as a really cold hollow with little to offer in terms of amenities. Are locals dubious or positive on this sprawling sub-division?

Q3. Athur's Point ... I like the area, near the Shotover River , half way to Arrowtown. What is the local view.

Q4. I do alot of business in Christchurch. Is there any reason why Air NZ doesn't run early morning flights out of Queenstown to arrive in Christchuch at between say 8.00 and 8.30am ... the last flight back leaves CHC at 4.20pm , which again is pretty early. Is this due to the terrain and dangers of landing in the dark ... or is there just no demand. For board meetings that start at say 9.00am in CHC it seems the only option is to go the night before or drive to Invercargill where there are two departures to CHC before 8.00am !! Is driving to IVC airport a realistic option inside say 2hrs ?

Our housing budget will be $700k ish .... any suggestions ...

Thanks for your help.