Best and worst places to invest in NZ (all 67 areas ranked)

Property investors often ask me “Where’s the best place to buy a property right now?”

Without fail, as soon as I answer, people follow it up with “But, what about [insert area here]”

So in this article I’m going to rank all 67 council areas in New Zealand. We’ll sort them into:

🟢 Green – I like it as an investment

🟢 Leaning Green – I’m keeping my eye on it

🟡 Yellow – It doesn’t impress me

🔴 Leaning Red – I’d tend to stay away

🔴 Red – I don’t recommend them

Of course, you can disagree with where I put an area. Good. Let me know down in the comments section and we can have a good discussion.

Afterall, I can look at the data. But I’m not on the ground in all 67 areas. So, there is a chance I’ve missed something. These lists are just to tell you where my head is at.

I only care about finding the best areas for our clients at Opes Partners. So, if you know something I don’t, write a comment at the end of this article.

The full list – Best and worst areas in New Zealand

Here’s the full list of every council area in New Zealand.

They’re in no particular order. So the one at the top of the green section isn’t necessarily better than the one at the bottom of the green section.

Don’t forget, you can use the search bar to find the areas you care about, and make sure you click through the pages to see all you the areas.

More from Opes:

• What's happening with the New Zealand property market right now? (Article)
• Top 5 places NOT to invest in New Zealand (Video)
• What is a good gross yield in New Zealand? (Article)

“Green areas” – The top places to invest

Here are my top places to invest.

These areas tend to be the most undervalued parts of New Zealand.

They’re not always the cheapest or highest yielding parts of the country.

But that’s where you can look for properties that are more affordable and have higher yields in these areas.

“Leaning green” areas – The next best places to invest

The “Leaning Green” areas are the ones I’m keeping my eye on. I’m not in love with them (yet). But, over the next few years they have potential.

These areas tend to be on the undervalued side. But they might be on a downward trajectory in their property cycle.

“Yellow” areas – Not the best (but not the worst)

The “Yellow” areas are ones in the middle. They’re not the best. But, they’re not the worst either.

You’ll notice a few areas have good data. But, they’re still a “Yellow”.

The West Coast is an example of this. Properties in this region are cheap. They also have high yields and appear undervalued.

But, I wouldn’t personally invest there. The population is low (and declining). So I’ve made a value judgement to put them in the “Yellow” category.

“Leaning red” areas – Places we’re not excited about

The “Leaning Red” areas tend to be cheaper areas with high yields. But, they’re also very overvalued. If they weren’t so overvalued, they’d probably be at the top of my “Green” list.

If you like to renovate or are investing for cash flow, these places could still be a go-er.

“Red” areas – Places we don’t recommend

My “Red” areas are places that have the trifecta of bad data. They’re expensive, have low yields and are overvalued.

That doesn’t mean that every property in these areas is bad. It just means that if I was looking for a good deal, I wouldn’t start here.