New Zealand

Melbourne-based property developer Ninety Four Feet has unveiled its project Lakeview Te Taumata, a 10-hectare lakeside suburb set to redefine luxury living in the heart of Queenstown.

Situated near the iconic Skyline Gondola, the collaboration with ASX-listed Centuria Capital Group and visionary pioneers from the Britomart precinct in Auckland will transform a former campground on Lake Wakatipu into a vibrant, world-class community over the next decade.

The multi-billion-dollar precinct will encompass diverse offerings, including residential apartments, a co-living building, three hotels, a co-working centre, health and wellness facilities, curated retail spaces, an art gallery and a significant food and beverage offering. The proposed addition of thermal pools, pending approval, will add an exciting dimension to the project.

<img alt="QT" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="588af906-4de9-41bd-a2f3-397be79e4648" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/QT.jpg?VersionId=HLhegLZ5rsDR4CVjMM31sbBSpTuAkev9" />

Architectural renders reveal stone-wrapped shops and restaurants at ground level, complemented by one co-living building and four residential tower blocks, with the tallest reaching twelve stories high.

Over half of the precinct will be dedicated to open public spaces and walkways, fostering a sense of community.

Ninety Four Feet Development Manager Charmaine Balchin stated the project will officially launch in early 2024, with New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty inviting high net worth clients from their database to register their interest now.

The consortium secured the project in a competitive global bid with the Queenstown Lakes District Council in 2019. Subdivision and civil works commenced in 2020, with the handover expected in March 2024.

“Despite global challenges, the Queenstown Lakes District Council has shown remarkable dedication to bringing this ambitious project to fruition,"&nbsp;Balchin said.

“It’s really inspiring to see the precinct forming and we’re excited to bring this community alive with our layers. We anticipate startingconstruction of the first stage coming out of winter 2024."

<img alt="QT" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3708f786-46fe-4348-9786-cf8a5bd02061" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/QT%202.jpg?VersionId=xZRiHZLcwrmQjKdlg0jAmJVC81QbhCoy" />

New Zealand Sotheby’s International Managing Director Mark Harris described Lakeview Te Taumata as Queenstown's first truly world-class master-planned community in the CBD.

Ninety Four Feet emphasise a cohesive design philosophy centred on sustainability, neighbourly intent, and experiential placemaking.Lakeview Te Taumata aims to be a net-positive project for energy, water, and waste. Collaborating with Māori designers, artists, placemakers, and renowned architects Monk Mackenzie and Architectus, the project respects both the natural environment and the cultural heritage of the region.

Prices start at $750,000, offering a range of residential options, including one, two and three-bedroom residences and penthouse suites.

Lakeview Te Taumata follows Ninety Four Feet's successful $250 million Hotel Indigo Auckland and 51 Albert sky residences tower project in Auckland.

Locally, they've recently completed Tommy Residences in Melbourne's Maribyrnong.

Prices start at $750,000, offering a range of residential options, including one, two and three-bedroom residences and penthouse suites

Urban Editorial

Melbourne developer Ninety Four Feet unveil new Queenstown suburb, Lakeview Te Taumata

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Expert Observer


Economists like to talk about “optimal policy instruments” — essentially, policies that achieve their objectives more effectively or efficiently than the alternatives, and have minimal unintended consequences.

Judged by those criteria, the New Zealand government’s recently announced package of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300259522/housing-policy-what-the-changes-mean-for-homeowners-investors-firsthome-buyers-renters-and-bach-owners">housing policy instruments</a> is a long way from optimal. You might even call it a shambles.

How so? To the uninformed, the package’s main elements may seem to address the housing affordability crisis by doing several things:

<ul>
<li>
	removing tax deductibility of interest on loans for residential property investments
	</li>
	<li>
	extending the <a href="https://www.ird.govt.nz/property/buying-and-selling-residential-property/the-brightline-property-rule">bright-line test</a> — the period after which the property sale attracts a capital gains tax (CGT) liability — from five to ten years
	</li>
	<li>
	favouring new builds in these tax changes
	</li>
	<li>
	introducing a “changes of use” rule that effectively makes family homes liable to CGT if sold within ten years and rented out for more than one year
	</li>
	<li>
	and raising income and house price caps for the government’s <a href="https://kaingaora.govt.nz/home-ownership/first-home-grant/">First Home Grant</a> scheme.
	</li>
</ul>
If we examine the package in light of the three optimal policy requirements, however, we can see the problems.

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson at press conference" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394390/original/file-20210411-23-15frx4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w"><figcaption>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson announce the Labour government’s housing policy changes. GettyImages</figcaption></figure><h2>Achieving the policy’s objective</h2>

Economists have a policy “rule” that to achieve various policy objectives, you need at least as many policy instruments. The housing package is a hodgepodge of inter-related measures, but it has several explicit objectives:

<ul>
<li>
	stabilising house prices
	</li>
	<li>
	facilitating home ownership
	</li>
	<li>
	discouraging (ill-defined) speculative investment
	</li>
	<li>
	increasing the housing stock with mainly (undefined) “affordable homes”
	</li>
	<li>
	closing what the government claims is a housing “tax loophole”.
	</li>
</ul>
To these, add implicit objectives of tackling perceived income and wealth inequalities between tenants, landlords and homeowners.

Overall, this is quite a task, and it would be remarkable if any set of housing policies could achieve such wide-ranging objectives.

Arguably, the primary target of this policy package is stopping the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/124692627/national-house-price-up-by-more-than-100000-since-early-2020">inexorable upward march</a> of (mainly Auckland) house prices. Failing to achieve that would simply put it among a long line of attempts by previous governments (National and Labour) over the past 20 years at least.

In all cases, the biggest problem has been insufficient political commitment to boosting housing supply.

<h2>Unintended consequences</h2>

All taxes cause “distortions”, mostly unintended, which need to be mitigated. Furthermore, policies that have conflicting objectives are “incoherent” and typically among the most distorting. This applies to the housing package’s removal of interest deductibility.

Previously, in New Zealand and almost every other country, interest on business loans is treated as a legitimate expense and therefore tax deductible, regardless of the nature of that business.

With that coherent principle now not applying to housing, then, what about other types of business loans the government thinks it should favour or disfavour? No doubt arguments could be made for such policies, but the result is an ad hoc tax system that generates multiple undesirable distortions and perverse incentives.

It could be argued the “new build” aspect of the housing package gets some incentives right by directing rental housing investment toward increasing the housing stock.

But with already existing constraints on new house building — such as planning regulations and availability of suitable land — the policy is likely to have little impact. It will simply shift housing investors from competing with first-time buyers for existing properties to competing with them for new properties.

Over time the rental housing stock becomes a patchwork of homes that do or don’t qualify for tax exemptions. Exploiting these new loopholes and assorted distortions to property prices will likely provide plenty of employment for tax accountants.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
'Free money' for landlords: Rent controls needed to protect vulnerable people from rent increases, say advocates <a href="https://t.co/lJ4XvaAjBH">https://t.co/lJ4XvaAjBH</a> <a href="https://t.co/UTQVOWegpW">pic.twitter.com/UTQVOWegpW</a>
— Stuff (@NZStuff) <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/NZStuff/status/1379480197972430848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><h2>A back door capital gains tax</h2>

It would be rare to find a liability based on transactions and timing among the principles of a good tax policy. But the bright-line test manages both — it incentivises delaying property sales to avoid the tax even when selling would otherwise be in the taxpayer’s best interest.

It was originally introduced in 2010 with a two year threshold, without supporting evidence, supposedly to stop so-called speculators from flipping properties for quick profits. A ten year threshold cannot be branded an anti-speculation policy, it is simply a back-door CGT.

As with most back-door policies, this CGT is inevitably less transparent and coherent than a policy designed to tackle the problem head-on would be.

Consider the hypothetical case of an Auckland homeowner relocating to Sydney to work for two years. It wouldn’t be sensible to sell the Auckland house due to high transaction costs and the risk of slipping on the property ladder when trying to buy back later. Much better to rent in Sydney while also renting out the Auckland home.

But this would now generate a potentially substantial tax bill on the family home. Indeed, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300260832/how-the-government-is-changing-rules-for-renting-out-your-main-home-and-the-brightline-test?rm=a">one calculation</a> showed just such a plausible scenario could generate a CGT liability of almost a year’s salary — simply to move to a similarly priced house.

<h2>Alternative policy instruments</h2>

If there are better alternatives, they do not lie in even more ad hoc fiddling with a coherent tax regime.

Instead, like the famous real estate mantra of “location, location, location”, the mantra for New Zealand housing policy should be “supply, supply, supply”. Specifically, supply in Auckland.

Successive governments have aimed policies nationwide when rapid house price inflation is almost exclusively urban and essentially an Auckland phenomenon.

Without policies that reform construction sector regulations and open up more land for urban housing, there is little prospect of Auckland house prices stabilising while current demand-driven trends persist. To make matters worse, the government’s first-home buyer schemes will merely raise demand without incentivising supply.

With too many objectives and the probability of numerous unintended consequences, the government’s housing policies risk being seriously incoherent.<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158768/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" width="1">

 

This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealands-new-housing-policy-is-really-just-a-new-tax-package-and-its-a-shambles-158768">original article</a>.

 

Related Projects:

[smartcode_project:default project_id=7275]

[smartcode_project:default project_id=95292]
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Without making housing supply the priority, the government's tax-based policies create more objectives than they can reasonably achieve

max.kwok_55688

New Zealand’s new housing policy is really just a new tax package — and it’s a shambles

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<h3 class="post-title entry-title"> </h3>
Annual migration to New Zealand hit its highest annual level on record in November 2016 at 70,400. 
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Australia saw a net loss of permanent and long term 1,830 departures to NZ over the year - mainly Kiwis returning home - although over the last six years the cumulative gain to Australia has been more than 116,000. 
<div id="post-body-8831991451369549932" class="post-body entry-content"><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/17/NZ1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
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 <div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/17/NZ1.jpg" alt=""></div>
 <div class="separator">Although it's tempting to think that Australia is losing population to New Zealand, in reality the opposite is true.</div>
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<div class="separator">In fact, an extra 16,000 Kiwis came to Australia on 444 visas on a net basis over the year, taking the total storming past 677,000. </div>
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<div class="separator">The big drivers of migration to NZ are now China and South Africa. </div>
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 NZ still has a lower unemployment rate than Australia, which is very much helping its cause.</div>
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PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>. 
His latest book is <a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>.
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pwargent-M4siyDbqQY

NZ migration highest on record: Pete Wargent

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Until a trans-Tasman travel bubble is <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-04/trans-tasman-bubble-coronavirus-what-might-happen-next/12212580" target="_blank">established</a>, there is little doubt the New Zealand tourism industry will <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413845/covid-19-domestic-travellers-eyed-to-keep-tourism-sector-viable-after-lockdown" target="_blank">rely entirely</a> on domestic travel post-COVID-19.
Without underplaying the impact the pandemic will have on discretionary spending in both countries, however, there may be a silver lining to the crisis.
New Zealand is in the fortunate position of having an <a href="https://tia.org.nz/about-the-industry/quick-facts-and-figures/" target="_blank">already strong</a> domestic tourism sector. Domestic tourists spent NZ$23.7 billion annually (or NZ$65 million a day) pre-COVID-19, compared to a total spend of NZ$12.7 billion (or NZ$47 million a day) by international visitors. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/11857" target="_blank">Research</a> pre-COVID-19 showed 65% of New Zealanders wanted to explore more of their country, a figure expected to increase.
True, New Zealanders generally don’t have the deep pockets international tourists have. Their higher overall spend is a reflection of their numbers, not their bank balances. But with the big ticket tourist attractions now missing the bigger spenders, the market will rule.
Regional tourism organisations, attractions and operators may need to rethink their offerings and their pricing. While tramping the <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/walking-and-tramping/great-walks/" target="_blank">great walks</a> may be perfectly affordable for a family of four, taking the family on a whale watch, a bungy jump or a cruise on Milford Sound may not be – especially as parts of one big holiday. Indeed, it has been found that <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/11857" target="_blank">price</a> is the major decision-making factor for 30% of New Zealanders when it comes to holidays.
So this is also an opportunity to give New Zealanders back a piece of the summer pie – not only for the COVID-19 recovery but in the longer term. Summers have tended to be characterised by a large influx of international tourists, with Kiwis settling for shoulder seasons (and unfavourable weather) to tramp the famous tracks when they are <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/99088942/tourists-outnumber-new-zealanders-on-the-great-walks--and-the-gaps-growing" target="_blank">less crowded</a>.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331898/original/file-20200501-42929-8lze50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Attractions such as the famous Shotover Jet near Queenstown may have to adjust costs to suit Kiwi pockets. www.shutterstock.com
But domestic tourists who have grown accustomed to off-peak holidays away from high-cost destinations will soon tip the scales. Now is the time for operators to win back their hearts.
With New Zealand’s gradual easing of its strict lockdown (possibly to the stage of allowing non-essential travel by mid-May), tourism can clearly support the economic revival of local communities. The challenge is how to reinvent New Zealand tourism as an initially purely domestic industry.
Overall, only a handful of New Zealand destinations have depended entirely on international tourists. These also happen to be the places most heavily associated with overtourism in the past. Given that the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2020.1759131" target="_blank">growth model</a> driven by short-term, dollars-first business thinking has led to an <a href="https://www.noted.co.nz/money/money-economy/nz-tourists-should-we-limit-number-visitors" target="_blank">unsustainable</a> tourism market, might this also be a chance to restore some equilibrium?
That will mean no more killing the goose that lays the <a href="https://www.pce.parliament.nz/publications/pristine-popular-imperilled-the-environmental-consequences-of-projected-tourism-growth" target="_blank">golden egg</a>. Some hotspots, such as the <a href="https://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/" target="_blank">Tongariro Alpine Crossing</a> and <a href="https://www.thecoromandel.com/activities/must-do/hot-water-beach/" target="_blank">Coromandel’s Hot Water Beach</a> may be managed by restricting visitor numbers.
Such strategies have long been in place in other places, such as the <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/fiordland/places/fiordland-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/milford-track/" target="_blank">booking requirement</a> for the Milford Track. We have also seen tremendous problems associated with too many cruise ships in too small places. Akaroa is a prime example, and limiting both the number of visits and the size of vessels may be a feasible <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018685520" target="_blank">future strategy</a>.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331899/original/file-20200501-42929-1nm13fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
A cruise liner arrives at tiny Akaroa in the South Island: limiting the number of visits to small centres has already been proposed. www.shutterstock.com
As part of our own research (yet to be published) into the pressing issues of overtourism we conducted interviews with various tourism stakeholders around New Zealand, including city and regional councils, the Department of Conservation, residents and operators. This took place just before New Zealand’s strictest lockdown level was imposed, without any real foreknowledge of the eventual economic impact of COVID-19.
Nonetheless, our interviewees shared very similar sentiments when it came to how the industry can evolve sustainably only if New Zealanders themselves embrace the behaviours they expect (and sometimes demand) of foreign tourists. According to our subjects, too many Kiwis still hold on to a past when the country’s population was half its current size and SUVs and large motorhomes didn’t crowd the roads and parking lots.
Initiatives such as the <a href="https://tiakinewzealand.com/" target="_blank">Tiaki Promise</a>, which promote environmental and cultural sensitivity to tourists, have largely targeted international visitors. These now need to turn the lens inwards so that Kiwis become better ambassadors within their own backyard.
Kiwis love their country, but they will now need to truly discover what it has to offer, not only for a weekend of tramping or a quick getaway, but for their main summer holiday. And they will have to become better kaitiaki (or guardians) of their homeland in the process.
The absence of international tourists will be a huge challenge, but also an opportunity. If we get it right, when those foreign visitors are allowed to return (most likely at first from Australia) we will have found ways to grow – or limit – their numbers and their expectations so that our tourism industry can thrive as well as survive.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137256/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sabrina-seeler-744896" target="_blank">Sabrina Seeler</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/nord-university-3607" target="_blank">Nord University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-lueck-804450" target="_blank">Michael Lueck</a>, Professor of Tourism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/auckland-university-of-technology-1137" target="_blank">Auckland University of Technology</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coronavirus-survival-challenge-for-nz-tourism-affordability-and-sustainability-137256" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

The coronavirus survival challenge for NZ tourism: affordability and sustainability

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The New Zealand's government will tighten tax rules on residential property profit taking for investors, including foreigners.
From October 1, gains on residential property sold within two years of purchase will be taxed unless it is the seller's main home, inherited from a deceased estate or transferred as part of a relationship property settlement.
The Finance Minister Bill English said non-resident buyers must have a New Zealand bank account and Inland Revenue tax identification number.
“People calling for a new capital gains tax often overlook the fact that, under existing rules, anyone buying property with the intention of selling for a gain is liable for tax on that gain,” Mr Key told the National Party’s Lower North Island regional conference in Lower Hutt yesterday.
“Everyone – whether from New Zealand or overseas – should pay their fair share of tax according to the law. So we need to ensure the existing law is enforced.”
The changes will be subject to consultation and take effect on 1 October this year.
The “bright line” test will apply to properties bought on or after that date.
“These measures will not affect New Zealanders’ main home, although existing tax rules will still apply in addition to these new steps,” Mr Key was reported as saying on the NBR website.
“They are aimed squarely at ensuring that property buyers – including overseas speculators – who buy residential property with the intention of selling for a gain pay their fair share of tax as required by the law.
“It’s not unreasonable to expect that if you buy an investment property and sell it for a gain within two years, then you should be taxed on that gain.
“This is quite different from an investor buying with a long-term view of renting their property to tenants. And it’s completely different to New Zealand owner-occupiers who have worked hard to buy their family home.”
It is expected to take some of the heat out of Auckland's housing market and sit alongside the Reserve Bank of New Zealand who will require residential property investors in Auckland to place a minimum deposit of 30% to qualify for a mortgage effective October 1.
Auckland house prices jumped 16.9% annually compared to 3.2% in the rest of the country, posing a risk to financial stability, the RBNZ said.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

NZ introduces investor capital gains tax for overseas speculators

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New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty real estate agency has purchased Auckland-based Milne &amp; Co.
NZSIR’s licensees and administrator will shift from NZSIR’s Herne Bay offices to the larger Milne &amp; Co space nearby. 
NZSIR managing director Mark Harris said by combining the unique attributes of the Sotheby's International Realty brand and the local experience and credibility of Pene Milne, we will create a very strong team in this key area of the Auckland market.
Founded in 2005 by Mark Harris and Julian Brown, the NZ branch of the global company has 11 offices – in Herne Bay and Parnell in Auckland, Matakana, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Wanaka, Arrowtown and its head office in Queenstown.
Pic: New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty (NZSIR) co-owner Julian Brown with Pene Milne.
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jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty acquires Milne & Co

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The Pumpkin Patch receivers have begun closing the company's stores, with seven in New Zealand first to go.
The collapsed children's clothing retailer was placed in voluntary administration having debts of $NZ46 million ($43 million).
Pumpkin Patch was operating 43 stores in New Zealand before the closures in Posonby, Takapuna, Henderson, Te Rapa, Wanganui, Coastlands (branded as Charlie &amp; Me), and Hornby.
The 57 employees who lost their jobs will receive entitlements to the gross value of $NZ22,160. The stores will wind up trading by November 8.
Pumpkin Patch operates 117 stores in Australia, which are all continuing to trade on a business as usual basis.
Receiver Brendon Gibson said on Friday no stores closures in Australia have been confirmed.
Gibson previously suggested to SmartCompany the receivers will “be looking at accelerating” stores closures.
The receivers are seeking expressions of interest in the Pumpkin Patch business and its assets by November 8.
Included in the sale are the business’s trading activities, inventory, customer list, websites and intellectual property.
 
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Pumpkin Patch stores closing in New Zealand

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The REINZ has released its house price data for October, which revealed that Auckland’s median house price jumped by 5.2 percent to $868,000 to be up by 16 percent year-on-year and hitting the highest level on record.
Nationally, house prices fell by 1 percent over October, but were up by 10.9 percent year-on-year: 
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Bryan Thomson, REINZ spokesperson said Auckland experienced a lot of strength in the upper end of the market but the lower end appears to be wavering due to the impact of LVRs. 
"The national sales volumes fell by 14 percent in October compared to the same time last year and the number of properties for sale as measured by realestate.co.nz has fallen by almost 7,400 over the past year," he said.
“Our data suggests that the impact of the revised LVR rules is having more of an effect on lower-priced sales compared to higher priced sales, with a surge in the percentage of sales over $1million and a noticeable decline in the number of sales below $400,000 compared to 12 months ago.
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"Some of this change may be reflective of the overall uplift in prices over the past year as the market for higher-priced properties is continuing as normal, but the market for lower priced properties is becoming more difficult for both buyers and sellers.
“There is some evidence that the normal spring ‘bounce’ in the number of listings has so far been quite weak this year. One possible reason for this is that the revised rules could be making it harder for people to know whether to sell, as they wonder if there are buyers about, so they hold their properties back from the market. This could have the result that we’re seeing, which is that supply falls but the demand is still there, so prices keep rising.”
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Auckland’s median house price jumps: REINZ 

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With median house prices in Queenstown reaching record heights, home buyers and investors are turning to the New Zealand lakeside tourist hotspot Te Anau.
Two hours south of Queenstown, Te Anau has seen demand for section sales increase in 2016 amid the Southern Lakes housing shortage.
Buyers from all over New Zealand have taken to The Delta, a 240 lot lakeside development in the town that acts as the gateway to the popular Milford Sound.
<img src="/images/2016/11/21/An%20aerial%20photograph%20of%20The%20Delta%20development%20in%20Te%20Anau.jpg" alt="">
Delta developer Adam Fairmaid said that they have seen a lot of interest from buyers keen to live or invest in Te Anau.
"Buyers understand that The Delta offers quality entry-level stock, so they’re able to build their own home or holiday retreat within a spacious subdivision that’s located on the edge of a pristine World Heritage Area,” he said.
“With the huge growth in tourism numbers in Te Anau – and the tourism industry’s expected growth – it’s very pleasing to see the market showing strong growth and demand.
"As Queenstown and Wanaka become increasingly busier and development intensifies, New Zealanders are recognising that Te Anau is an idyllic location without the hustle and bustle and high prices increasingly characteristic of the Southern Lakes area.”
<img src="/images/2016/11/21/Th%20Delta%20developers%20Adam%20Fairmaid%20left%20and%20Warren%20Bates.jpg" alt="">
Image: The Delta developers Adam Fairmaid (left) and Warren Bates (right). Source: Supplied
Land parcels ranging from 600 square metres to 1600 square metres have been selling quickly, prompting an increase in price for the minimum sized lot.
Prices originally started at $56,000, however the remaining sections are now priced between $90,000 and $275,000.
“Six sites sold in total during 2015 and we have sold 39 so far this year, with only five of the 50 sites available left in stage two," Fairmaid said.
“Ten sites sold last month, ranging from our entry-level pricing of $62,000 through to $160,000."
"In October alone, more sections were sold than for all of 2015.”
Stage three, comprising 20 prime lakefront lots, will be released to the market in early 2017.
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