Stately southern star

It’s the “Edinburgh of the South”, known for its proud heritage, nineteenth century architecture and old world cultural ties. Some of New Zealand’s best known companies, including Fletcher Construction and Hallensteins were established in Dunedin and the city is also home to the country’s oldest university and newspaper.

But Dunedin is also “scarfie” city, famed as a student centre and for the lifestyle that accompanies it. With over 21,000 people enrolled at the University of Otago – and many more at the Otago Polytechnic and the teacher’s training college – students and academia play a major role in the city.

This means that Dunedin’s property market is effectively in two distinct parts. There’s the more traditional family-oriented residential market in the suburbs and then there’s the busy, inner city student market. For investors, it’s critical to understand that.

But it’s equally important to know that Dunedin’s market has been the star performer amongst the main centres of late. While price growth in other centres has slowed or flat-lined, Dunedin continues to see double digit growth and high demand coupled with a shortage of supply.