Living in Queenstown: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 7,951 live property titles in Queenstown, Queenstown-Lakes District are a mix, led by unit title at 39%, as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 35 (0.4%), well below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 35
- Share of live titles
- 0.4%
- Live titles in total
- 7,951
- Queenstown-Lakes District share
- 0.6%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Queenstown-Lakes District
- 2 of 2
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- 643 of 644
Queenstown at a glance
Where Queenstown differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: cross-lease share of titles (lower than 99% of NZ suburbs); median slope under buildings (higher than 98% of NZ suburbs); typical distance to the coast (higher than 97% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Queenstown is listed under Queenstown-Lakes District.
- 7,951 live titles are recorded here, including 35 cross-lease titles (0.4%).
- The page includes 2023 Census context for the statistical area that represents this suburb.
- The page includes MBIE new-tenancy rent figures for April–June 2026.
Contextual observations
- Cross-lease titles make up 0.4% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 38.6% of recorded titles, so title structure can vary within the suburb.
- Coast distance is a suburb-level map measure, not a flood or hazard assessment.
Questions worth investigating
- For any cross-lease property you consider, do the current title, flats plan and lease match what is built today?
- What do the LIM, council property file and a suitable inspection add for the specific address?
No data held for this suburb
- Mapped public-transport context is not available for this suburb.
Title mix in Queenstown
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,894 | 23.8% |
| Cross lease | 35 | 0.4% |
| Unit title | 3,073 | 38.6% |
| Leasehold | 272 | 3.4% |
| Other record types | 2,677 | 33.7% |
| Total | 7,951 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Queenstown compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Queenstown is well below the national share (8.7%).
Across Queenstown-Lakes District as a whole, the share is 0.6%; Queenstown is lower than the overall Queenstown-Lakes District share (0.6%), though both are small.
How cross-leases in Queenstown are set up
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (8%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
More schemes have four or more flats on one section (23%, against 11% nationally), up to 6.
Less land per flat than is typical in New Zealand: about 304 m² per flat, against 408 m².
| Scheme structure | Queenstown | Queenstown-Lakes District | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 13 | 99 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 76.9% | 86.9% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 0.0% | 1.0% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 23.1% | 11.1% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 777 m² | 906 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 304 m² | 426 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 30.8% | 33.3% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 0.0% | 11.1% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 0.0% | 2.0% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 7.7% | 14.1% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1985 | 1989 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 5 | 70 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Queenstown
Unit titles are 39% of Queenstown's titles, well above Queenstown-Lakes District (17%) and well above New Zealand (8%). They belong to 325 developments, each run by a body corporate; 11 have 50 or more units.
272 titles (3.4%) are leasehold, 234 of them units in a unit-title development, well above the national share (1.2%).
3 of them have a stated term that has ended or has under 10 years to run, which is worth reading closely in the lease.
Stated lease terms, as at 30 September 2026:
| Stated lease term | Titles |
|---|---|
| Stated term has ended | 2 |
| Under 10 years left | 1 |
| 10 to 50 years left | 12 |
| More than 50 years left | 4 |
| Term mentions renewal (including perpetually renewable) | 19 |
| Term not stated or not readable | 234 |
New titles in Queenstown since 2020
367 of Queenstown's current titles (5%) were first issued since 2020, well below Queenstown-Lakes District's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (21%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
43% are unit titles, in 17 developments; most of the rest are freehold.
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 164 | 93 |
| Unit title | 156 | 59 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 31 | 20 |
| Other | 16 | 6 |
New titles include cross-leases converted to freehold and titles re-issued; they are not a count of new homes. Sources and limits
The lie of the land in Queenstown
The typical building in Queenstown stands on ground sloping 11.6° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
About 33% of its 2,684 measured buildings stand on ground of 15° or more.
The land rises from about 309 m to 840 m, and 57% of all of it, including reserves and gullies, is 15° or steeper.
Little of the sloping land faces north: 3%, where about a quarter would if slopes faced every way equally.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Queenstown
Queenstown is inland: the typical title is 70 km from the sea or harbour edge, and fewer than 1 in 2,000 titles are within 1 km of it.
Measured in a straight line from the centre of each title's land to the coastline on LINZ's 1:50k topographic map, which follows harbours and estuaries as well as the open coast; lakes and rivers are not included. Distance says nothing about beach access, views or exposure to coastal hazards; council hazard maps and the LIM describe those.
Who lives around Queenstown: 2023 Census
Queenstown's titles fall in 7 census areas (Stats NZ statistical areas). The 4 shown below hold 100% of its titles; their figures are shown side by side and are not added together.
More workers commute by bus, train or ferry in Frankton Arm than across Queenstown-Lakes District: 9.8% against 3.3%.
Fewer residents are children under 15 in Frankton Arm than across Queenstown-Lakes District: 7.6% against 16.0%.
Fewer homes are stand-alone houses in Frankton Arm than across Queenstown-Lakes District: 40.6% against 72.4%.
| Measure | Frankton Arm 36% of titles | Queenstown Central 35% of titles | Queenstown East 17% of titles | Warren Park 12% of titles | Queenstown-Lakes District whole council |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 1,845 | 807 | 1,122 | 1,356 | 47,808 |
| Change since 2018 | −3.8% | −20.6% | −20.8% | −8.7% | +22.1% |
| Change since 2013 | +17.6% | −23.4% | −17.6% | +19.9% | +69.4% |
| Median age | 32.3 | 31.7 | 33.2 | 30.7 | 35.5 |
| Households | 570 | 201 | 378 | 387 | 16,536 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 41.6% | 20.9% | 38.1% | 20.9% | 63.4% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 58.4% | 79.1% | 61.9% | 79.8% | 36.6% |
| Median household income | $124,300 | $99,400 | $118,300 | $118,600 | $125,600 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $630 | $500 | $600 | $550 | $600 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 44.3% | 40.8% | 50.2% | 27.2% | 27.5% |
| Ages | |||||
| Under 15 | 7.6% | 3.7% | 5.9% | 5.8% | 16.0% |
| 15 to 29 | 31.5% | 39.0% | 30.7% | 40.3% | 20.2% |
| 30 to 64 | 52.8% | 50.6% | 52.7% | 51.1% | 51.9% |
| 65 and over | 8.0% | 6.3% | 10.7% | 2.9% | 11.9% |
| Where people came from | |||||
| Born overseas | 63.4% | 75.6% | 62.2% | 74.1% | 40.7% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 46.5% | 62.2% | 50.2% | 60.9% | 37.4% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 58.4% | 64.3% | 52.7% | 61.3% | 54.0% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 12.8% | 10.8% | 14.2% | 13.8% | 8.3% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 38.9% | 53.7% | 42.0% | 46.8% | 29.7% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | |||||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 35.1% | 34.5% | 34.9% | 34.4% | 35.4% |
| Employed full-time | 76.1% | 79.5% | 70.1% | 81.9% | 64.0% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 1.8% | 0.4% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 1.2% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 39.4% | 23.8% | 37.8% | 26.3% | 43.7% |
| Median personal income | $52,400 | $40,300 | $51,200 | $45,300 | $52,600 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | |||||
| Work from home | 14.0% | 9.9% | 17.3% | 8.7% | 19.7% |
| Car, truck or van | 64.6% | 36.3% | 48.6% | 40.3% | 64.8% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 9.8% | 4.5% | 4.3% | 5.0% | 3.3% |
| Walk or cycle | 10.0% | 48.9% | 28.4% | 45.0% | 11.3% |
| Households and families | |||||
| One-person households | 16.1% | 22.8% | 20.9% | 14.2% | 17.4% |
| Average people per household | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 3.4% | 15.7% | 5.4% | 11.4% | 2.6% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 10.0% | 18.2% | 10.5% | 14.3% | 5.1% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 21.7% | 25.9% | 22.7% | 19.4% | 39.0% |
| Couples without children | 70.5% | 74.1% | 72.0% | 74.6% | 54.1% |
| One-parent families | 7.0% | 3.7% | 5.3% | 6.0% | 7.0% |
| Homes | |||||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 40.6% | 31.0% | 47.2% | 31.1% | 72.4% |
| Average bedrooms | 2.9 | 2.5 | 3 | 2.8 | 3.1 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 78.9% | 65.5% | 71.7% | 68.6% | 70.2% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 15.8% | 21.6% | 22.0% | 31.8% | 8.3% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 8.1% | 20.8% | 12.4% | 19.5% | 4.2% |
Rents around Queenstown
New tenancies in Frankton Arm in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $750 a week (down 6.2% on a year earlier). That is above the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Frankton Arm 36% of titles | Queenstown Central 35% of titles | Queenstown East 17% of titles | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $750 | $675 | $1,000 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $568–$919 | $250–$1,095 | $780–$1,250 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | −6.2% | — | +19.3% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 30 | 12 | 15 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Queenstown
LINZ maps 2 school sites inside Queenstown, among them Queenstown Primary School (Full Primary) and St Joseph's School (Queenstown) (Full Primary).
- Queenstown Primary School (Full Primary)
- St Joseph's School (Queenstown) (Full Primary)
- Nearest school: Queenstown Primary School (0.4 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Wakatipu High School (6.9 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Lakes District Hospital (5.8 km)
School enrolment zones in Queenstown: a guide
The largest primary-school zone shares of Queenstown's titles are level, in Queenstown Primary School and St Joseph's School (Queenstown) (all or nearly all each).
- Queenstown Primary School (primary, Years 1–8): all or nearly all titles
- St Joseph's School (Queenstown) (primary, Years 1–8): all or nearly all titles
A guide only: check the school's own zone map for any address. Zones as at 14 July 2026. Sources and limits
Places of worship near Queenstown
OpenStreetMap maps 6 places of worship inside Queenstown (4 Christian, 1 Buddhist, 1 Muslim).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: Queenstown Bible Chapel, under 1 km away
- Buddhist: Queenstown Dharma Centre, 1.0 km away
- Muslim: Queenstown Masjid, under 1 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Suburbs like Queenstown
The closest match on the measures on this site is Wānaka in Queenstown-Lakes District, nearest on cross-lease share, recent movers within NZ, degrees. Closeness is arithmetic, not a rating. Sources and limits
| Suburb | Council | Cross-lease share of titles | Median weekly rent, new tenancies | Median age | Closest on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wānaka | Queenstown-Lakes District | 1.0% | $825 | 43.3 | cross-lease share, recent movers within NZ, degrees |
| Frankton, Hamilton City | Hamilton City | 13.7% | $525 | 31.5 | older residents, schools, damp homes |
| Fenton Park | Rotorua District | 14.8% | $500 | 39.8 | stand-alone houses, population change, distance to a hospital |
| Maupuia | Wellington City | 12.4% | No data | 38.5 | household income, population change, new titles |
| Newlands | Wellington City | 10.5% | $603 | 35.3 | schools, population change, household income |
Questions
What is the rent in Queenstown?
New tenancies in Frankton Arm (the rent area for part of Queenstown) had a median rent of $750 a week in the April–June 2026 quarter (MBIE bond data, all dwelling types). These are rents agreed for new tenancies, not asking rents. The middle half of those rents ran from $568 to $919.
What schools are in Queenstown?
LINZ maps 2 school sites inside Queenstown: Queenstown Primary School and St Joseph's School (Queenstown). The nearest secondary school to its centre is Wakatipu High School (6.9 km in a straight line). Being near a school does not mean being in its zone.