Property Investment
3 min read
Author: Andrew Nicol
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Often investors ask, âWhere are the best places to invest, right now?â
Iâve crunched the numbers. Here are my top 6 picks for 2026.
WhangÄrei just sneaks onto the list as a bit of a sleeper.
About 100,000 people live in the area. Thatâs forecast to grow roughly 20% over the next 25 years. And property prices look about 4.5% undervalued.Â
Itâs still pretty affordable. At least by NZ standards. The median price of a house is $695k.
Not my #1 pick. But a solid performer in my books.Â
Iâm lumping these two together. Kaiapoi and Rangiora are two towns in the Waimakariri District.Â
Theyâre close enough to Christchurch that people there have good-paying jobs. But house prices are low enough that the rental returns can still make sense.
Property prices look about 5% undervalued by my number crunching. And the populatio0j is expected to grow 25% over the next 25 years.
On the other side of Christchurch is Rolleston and Lincoln. Theyâre in the Selwyn District, which is forecast to have the fastest growing population in the country over the next 25 years.
This has been on my âinvest listâ for a while.Â
30 years ago, Rolleston had less than 2,000 people and a couple of paddocks. Today over 34,000 people call it home. That growth has driven house prices.
These days property prices arenât as undervalued as they once were. But itâs not a âfarm townâ anymore. Itâs very much the city itâs been promising to be for a while.
Christchurch used to be my #1 place to invest. But itâs lost its top spot, mainly because house prices have outperformed in Christchurch compared to the rest of the country.Â
Investors have done well in the garden city. But you canât expect that an area to keep outperforming the rest of the country forever.Â
Still a good place to own property in my view. Just not the best place to buy next if youâre chasing the biggest opportunity.
This one will surprise people.
Palmerston North is the new kid on the block on my list of top places to invest. The median price of a house sits around $617k, and rental demand is strong (thanks to the university).
The data doesnât tell me that Palmerston North is red-hot (as an investment). But there is very little actively wrong with it. Thatâs why itâs high on my list.Â
(Just remember: Not every property in Palmerston North is a good investment. This list is here to help you know where to look. It doesnât mean you should just buy anything in any of these areas).
Auckland is unpopular right now. House prices havenât gone up as fast as in other areas. Thatâs been the case over the last decade.Â
And thatâs why it tops the list.
Because compared to everywhere else, Auckland looks a bit cheap (at least for Auckland). That doesnât mean house prices are low. Theyâre not.Â
But if you look at how expensive houses are everywhere else in the country ⌠Aucklandâs looking good. Â
But right now, the data stacks up. There are strong incomes, with deep tenant and buyer demand.
The population growth is still forecast to grow around 25%, all the while interest rates are starting to ease.
When Iâm searching for areas to invest, I ideally want:
But these things usually contradict each other. Big cities will often have people who earn high incomes. But because of that house prices are often high. That weakens rental yields.Â
Thatâs why the real money isnât made by finding the âperfectâ city. Itâs made by buying the right property, in a good market, at the right time, for your strategy.
If you want help figuring out what that looks like, you can book a free strategy session with one of our financial advisers.
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Andrew Nicol, Managing Director at Opes Partners, is a seasoned financial adviser and property investment expert with 20+ years of experience. With 40 investment properties, he hosts the Property Academy Podcast, co-authored 'Wealth Plan' with Ed Mcknight, and has helped 1,894 Kiwis achieve financial security through property investment.
This article is for your general information. Itâs not financial advice. See here for details about our Financial Advice Provider Disclosure. So Opes isnât telling you what to do with your own money.Â
Weâve made every effort to make sure the information is accurate. But we occasionally get the odd fact wrong. Make sure you do your own research or talk to a financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
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