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Suburb profile · Otago · NZ

Shotover Country NZ

Shotover Country is in Otago, New Zealand, with population 3,837.

The read

Livability-led

There are enough weaker signals here that you should expect trade-offs, not a clean local story. Compare it directly with stronger nearby suburbs before treating it as a preferred option.

$700/wk
1/01/2020 → 1/01/2026 · 17 periods
Tenancy Services · 1/01/2026
$1050
$518
1/01/20201/01/2026
Why it fits

Transport coverage adds a practical access signal. Lower deprivation supports a livability-led read.

Median rent
$990/wk
Rent-pressure candidate
D10 vs NZ
Population
3,837
4K local footprint
D10 vs NZ
Income
$58K/yr
Median personal income
D10 vs NZ
NZDep
Decile 1
Lower deprivation
D1 vs NZ
Schools
1
matched school context

Area prices & affordability

Median sale price
$1.35M
+37.9% over 5yr
4.3%YoY
Lower quartile
$980K
Entry-level price
House Price Index
3,647
QV-based HPI
34.2%5yr
Income to buy
10.9x
Years of median income
Annual sales
1,175
Transactions, TA

Mortgage serviceability

at the 5.69% 2-year fixed rate
Monthly repayment
$6,266/mo
20% deposit, 30-year P&I
Repayment burden
61%
of gross household income
Stress level
Severe
<30% comfortable · >45% severe
Years to deposit
14.5 yrs
20% deposit at 15% savings

Monthly repayment by fixed term

Floating · 6.15%
$6,585
1-year fixed · 5.26%
$5,975
2-year fixed · 5.69%
$6,266
3-year fixed · 5.86%
$6,383

A territorial-authority estimate: the Queenstown Lakes District median sale price on a 20% deposit and 30-year loan, against the TA median household income implied by HUD's income-to-buy ratio, at RBNZ new-mortgage rates. A market-wide guide, not a Shotover Country-specific or borrower-specific figure.

Price trend

1yr +4.4%5yr +39.4%
QV House Price Index (Jan 2007 = 1000)

QV House Price Index for the Queenstown Lakes District territorial authority (monthly, Jan 2007 = 1000). A valuation-based index of price movement over time — distinct from the actual median sale price above.

Years of median household income to buy

Figures are for the Queenstown Lakes District territorial authority (as at 2026-03). New Zealand has no free suburb-level sale-price series, so these are TA-wide medians from HUD Local Housing Statistics (LINZ District Valuation Roll + Stats NZ) — a market backdrop for Shotover Country, not a Shotover Country-specific sale price.

Rent trend depth

Rent cycle positionRents recovering
Low · 2025Peak · 2023

33.3% below peak rent · 25.0% above its low

Rent growth (compound)3-yr -12.6%/yr · 5-yr -0.6%/yr

Rent trend is derived from MBIE tenancy-bond medians and excludes suburbs with too few bonds to be reliable.

Personal income

$58K personal · yr+40.8% vs Otago suburb median
Personal income distribution (Census 2023 · annual)
$10,000 or less
249
$10,001-$20,000
156
$20,001-$30,000
216
$30,001-$50,000
540
$50,001-$70,000
825
$70,001-$100,000
645
$100,001 or more
393

Median individual income. NZ has no suburb-level household-income or sale-price data, so this is a personal-income benchmark, not a household-affordability measure. Distribution covers people aged 15+ with stated income; counts are randomly rounded to base 3.

Housing stock and tenure

Home ownership over three censuses
2018
62% owned
2023
60% owned

6.4% of private dwellings were unoccupied on 2023 census night (holiday homes, empty rentals, and vacant stock).

Dwelling condition (occupied dwellings, self-reported)

4% damp (+2pp vs 2018) and 2% with visible mould larger than A4 (+1pp vs 2018).

Investor-specific data (gearing, investor concentration) is not published for NZ suburbs — the tenure trend above is the available investor signal.

Population outlook

51,500 people · 202363,100 by 2033 (+22.5%)

Stats NZ subnational projection (2023 base, medium series) for Queenstown-Lakes District — the finest official projection grain available; suburb-level projections do not exist.

Crime

Rate · per 100k4,683
Total incidents2,239· 2026-05
  • Assault24053%
  • Burglary15735%
  • Robbery225%
  • Sexual Assault358%

Natural hazards

Earthquake exposure
Moderate
Proximity to active faults
Nearest active fault
10.4 km
Cardrona Fault
Fault slip rate
Low
Higher = more active

Earthquake exposure is the distance from Shotover Country's centre to the nearest mapped active fault (GNS Science NZ Active Faults Database) — an area estimate, not a site-specific seismic assessment. NZ's full ground-shaking model (NSHM) is not available as a queryable map layer.

Short-term rentals

204
active listings · ~53.2 per 1,000 residents
82%
entire homes (vs private rooms)
46%
run by multi-listing operators
Investment view Estimated
$360
median nightly (entire home)
13%
estimated occupancy
$17,889
estimated annual revenue (gross)

Active Airbnb listings point-mapped to this suburb from Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0). Occupancy and revenue are estimates from Inside Airbnb's San Francisco model (review-rate proxy, minimum-stay assumption, occupancy capped at 70%) — they are gross, indicative, and not a guarantee of returns. Short-stay letting is subject to state and local regulation.

Schools

Total1
Students556
State1
  • Shotover Primary SchoolFull Primary · State

Livability

37/ 100 livability index

Top 63% most liveable of 1,902New Zealand suburbs.

Peer distributionstronger than 37% of New Zealand districts
WeakerTypicalStronger
Everyday access50
Public transport (5 stops)35
Schools & hospitals32

Bar = this suburb's percentile · tick = typical (median) peer

Suburb-level access-density index (not an address-level walk-time score), normalised within New Zealand suburbs. Method based on the Urban Liveability Index (Higgs et al. 2019) and Walk Score — three equal-weighted domains combined with an imbalance penalty.

Investment grade

Fgrade · 3/100 · top 97% of 65New Zealand districts
Peer distributionstronger than 3% of New Zealand districts
WeakerTypicalStronger
Capital growth86
Rental yield3
Stability3

Bar = this suburb's percentile · tick = typical (median) peer

District-level grade across New Zealand territorial authorities, combining 5-year price growth, rental yield (district median rent vs district median price), and stability (price-to-income level + affordability trajectory) via the same three-pillar method with an imbalance penalty. New Zealand has no free suburb-level prices, so this reflects your area's territorial authority. Within-New-Zealand relative, indicative only — not financial advice.

Stronger alternatives nearby

Cheaper to rent

lower weekly rent · cross-TA

Alternatives are similar-rent suburbs (0.6–1.6x this suburb's median rent) in other territorial authorities that exceed it on the named metric. Indicative — not financial advice.

Building activity

Latest consents
65
17 houses · 48 units
36.9%YoY D10 vs NZ

Employment

Employed residents
2,553
Was 1,425 in 2018
79.2%vs 2018 D10 vs NZ

Full data detail

Shotover Country Otago — Property Data and Demographics

Shotover Country is a small suburb in Otago with a population of 3,837 and a median age of 32. Median personal income is $58K per year. The main ethnic groups are European, Asian, MELAA. Otago population estimates moved +0.6% in the year ended June 2025, after moving +1.6% in 2024, which should be read as a broader regional movement backdrop rather than suburb-level migration precision. The resident employment base moved from 1,425 in 2018 to 2,553 in 2023 (+79.2%), which should be read as a census-to-census employment backdrop rather than a live jobs series. Te Waihanga's December 2025 Pipeline snapshot tracked over 12,000 NZ infrastructure initiatives, with more than 2,700 under construction and transport taking 52% of projected 2026 pipeline spend, which should be read as a broader national delivery backdrop rather than a suburb-specific project list.

Median weekly rent in Shotover Country is $990 (990 houses, 600 units). This represents approximately 89% of median weekly personal income.

Livability indicators for Shotover Country: NZDep decile 1 (low deprivation (affluent)); 1 school with avg EQI 396; 5 transport stops (5 bus).

In 2026, Shotover Country recorded 65 building approvals (17 houses, 48 units), down 36.9% year-on-year.

Market & money
Livability signalsHeuristics
Rent Affordability89% Stretched
School QualityEQI 396· Average
DeprivationDecile 1 Low
Transport Access5 stops· Some Access
Development-37% Slowing
Rental marketMBIE
Median rent · wk(1/01/2026)$990
House · wk$990
Unit · wk$600
Rent / income88.8%
Lodgements51
DevelopmentStats NZ
Consents (2026)65
Houses 26%Units 74%
YoY change-36.9%
People & prosperity
DemographicsCensus 23
Population3,837
Median age32
Household size
HH income · yr
Personal income · yr$58,000
Deprivation (NZDep)NZDep23
Less deprived1/10
NZDep score910

1 = least deprived · 10 = most deprived

EthnicityCensus 23
European2,751
Asian633
MELAA381
Māori261
Pacific Peoples105
Top industriesCensus 23
Construction534
Accommodation and Food318
Retail Trade270
Professional, Scientific and Technical243
Administrative and Support159
Area & amenity
Local amenitiesOSM
Supermarkets0
Pharmacies0
GP / clinics1
Fuel stations0
Cafes & dining0
TransportGTFS
Bus stops5
Hospitals · Queenstown-Lakes DistrictMoH
Lakes District HospitalPublic Hospital
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Sources & freshness
Strong evidence

Shotover Country carries enough direct local evidence for a first-pass decision.

NZ suburb pages combine Stats NZ, MBIE, MoE, GTFS, and pinned service coverage. The key difference is that some items are direct feeds, while others are fallback or snapshot layers.

RENT POSTURE
Rent is using MBIE bond data when present.

Treat current rent as a decision input, not as a guaranteed market quote.

HOSPITAL POSTURE
Hospital coverage comes from an official pinned snapshot.

This is a trusted coverage layer, but it is still a pinned snapshot rather than a live facility API.

TRANSPORT POSTURE
Transport is feed-based and depends on GTFS bundle coverage.

It is good for stop presence and local network context, but not a guarantee that every operator or schedule is equally current.

Data status
Weekly rent
MBIE rental bond data · 1/01/2026 · Bond market dataset
stable source · automated · every update · monthly
Available
Schools
MoE school directory · 1 schools matched
stable source · automated · every update · nightly
Available
Hospitals
Pinned Health NZ public hospital snapshot · No linked local hospital coverage
medium stability · mixed acquisition · snapshot · mixed
Missing
Transport
NZ GTFS bundle · 5 matched stops
medium stability · mixed acquisition · snapshot · mixed
Available
Building consents
Stats NZ building consents CSV · 2026 · Annual release series
Available
Demographic baseline
Stats NZ Census 2023 · Population, income, and demographic baseline
stable source · manual file · snapshot · census-cycle
Available
Available means a direct local source is linked. Verify means the page is using a weaker fallback or coverage-only snapshot, especially Census rent fallback or pinned hospital coverage.

Shotover Country FAQ

Common questions
  1. What is the typical weekly rent in Shotover Country?

    The median weekly rent in Shotover Country is $990/wk, based on the MBIE market rent dataset. The current rent signal is rent-pressure candidate.

  2. What does the rent signal say about Shotover Country?

    Rent-pressure candidate: Shotover Country rents screen above the local benchmark. Use this as a suburb screening signal before comparing candidates; the matching rent ranking can provide broader market context.

  3. What is the livability profile for Shotover Country?

    QuickProperty's livability signals for Shotover Country show: Stretched, Average, Low. These are based on rent affordability, school EQI, NZDep deprivation index, and transport access.

  4. Where does QuickProperty get its data for Shotover Country?

    Housing data comes from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). Demographics are from Stats NZ Census 2023. Schools data uses the Ministry of Education Equity Index (EQI). The deprivation score uses NZDep2018. Transport data is sourced from GTFS feeds.

  5. How often is the Shotover Country data updated?

    RBNZ macro data updates with each deploy. Demographics are from NZ Census 2023. School EQI scores are from the Ministry of Education latest release.