A natural choice for informed investors
In recent years we have focused our property sourcing on Whangarei as capital costs for purchase are around 30% below most other centres. Projected population and industry growth are are among the highest in New Zealand leading to strong yields and capital growth.
We have an established Whangarei property management branch to enable you to have maximum protection and support with properties you acquire in this rapidly developing center.
Whangarei District has a population base of almost 75,000 with around 27,000 employees working for over 6500 businesses. It also generates approximately half of the Northland regional economy.
Current growth and future prospects
The Districts’ economy has been changing over the past decade with strong growth in the manufacturing and tertiary industries. Whangarei presents many opportunities for future development especially in marine construction – ship and yacht building, engineering, tourism, aquaculture, introduction of new crops and investment in planted forestry production and wood processing.
Port expansion
Future considerations include a new port – the deepest in New Zealand, a stable workforce, sub-tropical climate with a long agricultural growing season, and large areas of available flat land. Whangarei is also home to New Zealand’s only oil refinery, one of the district’s largest employers, which recently underwent a major refurbishment and expansion.
The port has a general bulk/cargo facility at Marsden Point and gives access to national and international markets, providing potential advantages over other areas in New Zealand. The easy approach through deep water channels means that cargo ships have significantly reduced berthing times. It is undergoing an expansion which could ultimately see it take the place as New Zealands’ main dedicated cargo facility. To support the future growth of the port a large industrial park is currently under construction and a new rail link is being established.
Broad base of industry
There are large forestry plantations with a increase of mature trees coming on. These are primarily exported from the port in addition to a number of commercial sawmills working to supply the New Zealand demand. There is also a large dairy factory and cement works, and the Northland base hospital and polytechnic. Currently, the strongest industries in terms of value-add are agriculture, forestry and fishing (22%), manufacturing (14%), and property and business services (9%) and construction (9%).
Whangarei airport is located within minutes of the city with daily flights to and from other city locations including Auckland and Wellington International airports. By road, Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city with a population of over 1.2 million is approximately a two hour drive.
World renowned boat building and refitting destination
Boat building is a traditional Whangarei industry that is currently undergoing a significant resurgence. The ANZAC frigate project was successfully completed by TENIX Defence (New Zealand) Limited in Whangarei in 2004 with a multi-role vessel, offshore and inshore patrol vessels currently constructed for the New Zealand Navy. The boat and ship-building industry is producing a range of vessels from super yachts to tugs, aluminium work boats, tourist charter boats fibreglass and composite and traditional wooden boats.
Between 400 to 600 international cruising boats visit New Zealand annually. A significant proportion of these visit the marinas at Whangarei for maintenance and refitting. This industry brings in excess of $50m into the economy each year and employs around 500 people. This is another significant example of a thriving non-agricultural reliant industry.
Conclusion
Whangarei is a bustling industrial and commercial center which treasury modelling confirms expects to continue to increase in population and industry. The economy is stable due to the wide infrastructure base. The economy does not tend to have the extreme fluctuations associated with other similar centers which operate on a primarily agricultural based economy.