Property sales up at Queenstown's Millbrook Resort

The success story that is Queenstown’s Millbrook Resort continues apace with a continued upswing in housing and land sales and the announcement of the next staged development.

The multi-million-dollar luxury lifestyle resort clocked up $36m of sales to the end of its financial year in September 2013, a 38% increase over each of the previous two years, which were both $26m.

Twenty-seven sales throughout the 12-month period (a combination of 14 new sales and 13 re-sales) had an average value of $1.33m each -- seven sales were sections and 20 were homes.

“On the back of that  strong sales curve we’re delighted to announce that we’ve just received resource consent for the next 23-lot Stage 3B development overlooking the fourth fairway of our Coronet Nine golf course,” said Millbrook Property and Development Manager Ben O’Malley.

“Work on that is scheduled to start in December and we know there’s substantial demand out there particularly from our domestic market.”

Mr O’Malley said that of the sales over the past 12 months, all brokered by Austin Bragg and Julia Blanchard of Millbrook Realty Ltd,  78% of them were to New Zealanders, either those living in the wider region, Aucklanders, locals or a small number of returning expats.

Remaining sales were split evenly between Australians and those from other countries.

Mr O’Malley put the increase in sales down to growing market confidence, trust in the developer and the diverse range of products it had developed.

“From completed luxury homes of various sizes and floor-plans to expansive building sites, these are proving attractive to a wide group of potential owners and investors,” he said.

“Queenstown’s one of the greatest places in New Zealand to own a second home or holiday home, and we’re continuing to see several properties sell off the plans and multiple offers on some sites or properties.”

Mr O’Malley said the Millbrook lifestyle appealed very strongly to the family market in particular which had experienced good percentage growth.

“Overall we have the confidence to continue construction at a faster pace than ever before.”

“Right now we have eight homes under construction for Millbrook and there are another eight under construction for site owners. We’re also about to start work on another four homes in the style of the Mason & Wales-designed McEntyre’s Tarn development which proved hugely popular and has sold out.”

In the resort’s Taramea Square development, seven of the 12 homes have been sold and are either completed or under construction, including the first show home decked out by interior designer Sue Nauman.

A second show home, a larger Courtyard Home, is currently open for viewing, and a new Ski Barn will open in February 2014 as a show home.

In the Coronet Square development, designed by Haden Emslie, another show home with new and interesting features and showcasing the work of interior designer Jean Foster is scheduled to open in December.

“We’ve learned that people want to really see, touch and ‘feel’ the ambience of these homes, so committing to building them and fitting them out beautifully as show homes really helps reinforce Millbrook’s reputation for quality and craftsmanship so buyers continue to invest,” said Mr O’Malley.

“Thanks to our dynamic recent sales activities, listings for re-sales are currently low, so increasingly investors are looking for opportunities to buy new homes from a proven developer.”

Millbrook Resort recently marked an important milestone, celebrating twenty years since it first opened its gates. It now employs over 200 staff, and is the largest luxury golf and lifestyle resort in the South Island.

It has a winning combination of a stunning Central Otago location matched with magnificent architecturally-designed homes within 20 minutes’ drive of a booming year-round destination.