Living in Hillcrest, Rotorua District: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 611 live property titles in Hillcrest, Rotorua District are almost all freehold (89%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 64 (10.5%), above the national share of 8.7%.
Hillcrest, Rotorua District cross-lease titles
- Cross-lease titles
- 64
- Share of live titles
- 10.5%
- Live titles in total
- 611
- Rotorua District share
- 12.8%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Rotorua District
- 18 of 20
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 316 of 644
Hillcrest at a glance
Where Hillcrest differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: typical distance to the coast (higher than 96% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Hillcrest is listed under Rotorua District.
- 611 live titles are recorded here, including 64 cross-lease titles (10.5%).
- 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 10.5% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- 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 Hillcrest
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 544 | 89.0% |
| Cross lease | 64 | 10.5% |
| Unit title | 0 | 0.0% |
| Leasehold | 3 | 0.5% |
| Other record types | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | 611 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Hillcrest compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Hillcrest is higher than the national share (8.7%).
Across Rotorua District as a whole, the share is 12.8%; Hillcrest is slightly lower than the overall Rotorua District share (12.8%).
Its cross-lease share is 3rd lowest of 20 in Rotorua District (among suburbs with an indexed page on this site).
How cross-leases in Hillcrest are set up
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (14%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
Carports appear in fewer leases (7% of schemes, against 13% nationally).
Fewer schemes have four or more flats on one section (7%, against 11% nationally), up to 7.
| Scheme structure | Hillcrest | Rotorua District | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 28 | 1,958 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 82.1% | 82.2% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 10.7% | 9.2% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 7.1% | 8.3% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 974 m² | 1,022 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 474 m² | 506 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 28.6% | 23.4% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 7.1% | 5.5% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 0.0% | 4.0% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 14.3% | 27.5% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1988 | 1987 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 23 | 1,565 | 54,978 |
New titles in Hillcrest since 2020
25 of Hillcrest's current titles (4%) were first issued since 2020, well below Rotorua District's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (8%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
Most came recently: 23 since 2023.
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 25 | 23 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
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 Hillcrest
The typical building in Hillcrest stands on ground sloping 2.1° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Hillcrest
Hillcrest is inland: the typical title is 46 km from the sea or harbour edge, and none is 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 Hillcrest: 2023 Census
About 89% of Hillcrest's titles are in the census area Hillcrest (Rotorua District) (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Hillcrest exactly.
Fewer residents are 65 or over in Hillcrest (Rotorua District) than across Rotorua District: 10.3% against 15.6%.
Fewer workers work from home in Hillcrest (Rotorua District) than across Rotorua District: 9.7% against 14.2%.
Fewer people live alone in Hillcrest (Rotorua District) than across Rotorua District: 16.3% against 23.5%.
| Measure | Hillcrest (Rotorua District) | Rotorua District whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 1,863 | 74,058 |
| Change since 2018 | −2.8% | +3.0% |
| Change since 2013 | +14.8% | +13.4% |
| Median age | 33.1 | 36.6 |
| Households | 540 | 25,413 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 63.9% | 64.5% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 36.7% | 35.5% |
| Median household income | $96,200 | $87,700 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $400 | $400 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 12.5% | 12.8% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 23.3% | 21.7% |
| 15 to 29 | 21.1% | 19.0% |
| 30 to 64 | 45.1% | 43.7% |
| 65 and over | 10.3% | 15.6% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 20.3% | 18.1% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 27.6% | 22.9% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 41.0% | 44.8% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 4.9% | 3.6% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 16.4% | 18.9% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 23.5% | 20.3% |
| Employed full-time | 53.8% | 50.3% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 5.9% | 4.4% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 38.0% | 41.0% |
| Median personal income | $40,700 | $39,000 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 9.7% | 14.2% |
| Car, truck or van | 85.0% | 79.6% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Walk or cycle | 4.4% | 4.1% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 16.3% | 23.5% |
| Average people per household | 3.1 | 2.7 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 5.6% | 6.1% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 46.2% | 38.7% |
| Couples without children | 29.4% | 38.1% |
| One-parent families | 25.2% | 23.2% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 93.4% | 81.6% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 63.4% | 59.6% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 30.4% | 23.6% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 21.9% | 18.7% |
Rents around Hillcrest
New tenancies in Hillcrest (Rotorua District) in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $640 a week. That is slightly above the typical suburb in Rotorua District ($590), and close to the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Hillcrest (Rotorua District) | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $640 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $605–$650 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | — | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 12 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Hillcrest
One school site lies inside Hillcrest: Rotorua Girls' High School (Secondary (Year 9-15)).
- Rotorua Girls' High School (Secondary (Year 9-15))
- Nearest school: Rotorua Girls' High School (0.3 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Rotorua Girls' High School (0.3 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Rotorua Hospital (2.4 km)
School enrolment zones in Hillcrest: a guide
Four secondary schools have a home zone covering most of Hillcrest's titles, among them John Paul College, Rotorua Boys' High School and Rotorua Girls' High School.
- Glenholme School (primary, Years 1–6): about 50% of titles
- Otonga Road School (primary, Years 1–6): about 5% of titles
- Rotorua Intermediate (intermediate, Years 7–8): all or nearly all titles
- John Paul College (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Rotorua Boys' High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Rotorua Girls' High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Western Heights High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Rotorua Lakes High School (secondary): about 10% of 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 Hillcrest
OpenStreetMap maps 2 places of worship inside Hillcrest (1 Christian, 1 Muslim).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: Maranatha Fellowship Seventh Day Adventist Church, under 1 km away
- Hindu: Hindu Heritage Centre Rotorua, under 1 km away
- Muslim: Rotorua Islamic Association, under 1 km away
- Sikh: Gurdwara Sri Guru Amardas Sahib Ji, 2.0 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in Rotorua District with many cross-leases
- Glenholme: 569 cross-lease titles (29.6%)
- Ōwhata: 365 cross-lease titles (12.6%)
- Victoria: 355 cross-lease titles (34.2%)
- Western Heights: 320 cross-lease titles (25.4%)
- Mangakakahi: 283 cross-lease titles (16.1%)
- Koutu: 277 cross-lease titles (27.8%)
- Ngongotahā: 263 cross-lease titles (12.4%)
- Pukehangi: 243 cross-lease titles (13.5%)
All suburbs in Rotorua District
Suburbs like Hillcrest
The closest match on the measures on this site is Selwyn Heights in Rotorua District, nearest on unit-title share, population change, commuting by public transport. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selwyn Heights | Rotorua District | 14.0% | $625 | 32.2 | unit-title share, population change, commuting by public transport |
| Fairy Spring | Rotorua District | 16.8% | No data | 33.8 | schools, commuting by public transport, home ownership |
| Pukehangi | Rotorua District | 13.5% | No data | 30 | unit-title share, schools, commuting by public transport |
| Utuhina | Rotorua District | 17.7% | $620 | 36.2 | unit-title share, distance to the coast, distance to a hospital |
| Sunnybrook | Rotorua District | 12.8% | No data | 35.5 | unit-title share, distance to the coast, recent movers within NZ |
Questions
What is the rent in Hillcrest, Rotorua District?
New tenancies in Hillcrest (Rotorua District) (the rent area for part of Hillcrest) had a median rent of $640 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 $605 to $650.
What schools are in Hillcrest, Rotorua District?
LINZ maps 1 school site inside Hillcrest: Rotorua Girls' High School. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Rotorua Girls' High School (0.3 km in a straight line). Secondary-school home zones covering most of its titles include John Paul College, Rotorua Boys' High School and Rotorua Girls' High School; check the school's own zone map for any address.