For an investor with their ear to the ground, an eye for promise and their finger on the pulse of opportunity, the vitality which is building up in the central

Christchurch market will come as no surprise. As the central city rebuild gains momentum and the demand for inner-city apartments steadily builds, it’s time for the astute investor to get on board.

Reflecting the vigour of new projects, The Verve Precinct offers diverse investment opportunities with outstanding potential.

The Verve Precinct: Building your Investment

Styled on the architectural energy of central New York apartment living, The Verve Precinct joins other high-end apartment projects that are transforming the heart of Christchurch into a dynamic hub, where commercial and residential interests will flourish.

The 62 apartments will incorporate two adjacent buildings, linked by a raised and landscaped common area, and will include car parks. The complex, at the corner of Peterborough and Victoria Streets, will include one, two, and three-bedroom apartments with expansive living areas. With 11 levels, the Verve will be energy efficient, full of natural light and offer diverse central views.

The development company building the apartment tower is headed by John Baigent of Christchurch Property Projects in partnership with Nick Gee. John has had a successful career in accountancy, senior management and business consultancy. He’s been involved in residential and commercial property projects with budgets up to $48 million and has built up a strong team of professionals. His company, Christchurch Property Projects, was established in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes to provide solutions to the property issues facing many local businesses. Nick Gee has a background in construction and his family have been building investment and residential housing in Christchurch since the 60’s.

Working alongside the developers to market The Verve, is Campbell Venning of The Property Factory, the new nationwide real estate agency whose specialty is sourcing and selling high-yield residential investment properties to investors. His enthusiasm for the location and the opportunities open to investors in The Verve is striking. For him, everything about this complex adds up to a great investment and the potential for investors is immense.

“First there’s the location – it doesn’t get more fantastic than this,” Campbell says. “It’s equivalent on an Auckland measure to a Remuera or Mission Bay location but with a price tag of about half of that.”

“Then there are the options. It’s a mixeduse building and this provides a broad offering of diverse investment units. Mixed use means it has commercial and residential in the same building. However, the advantage of this residential offering is that it has a combination of owner-occupier units (about 70%) and investment apartments (about 30%). This is great for capital growth of the investor units as the value of stock in investor-heavy buildings is usually based on rental returns (gross yields). But in this case, due to the high number of owner-occupiers, values will be based on owner-occupier purchase prices and resales which will lift the
value of the investor units to higher levels.”

“And third, there’s the quality. It’s a top-end product, with investment properties alongside 1.5-2 million dollar apartments.”

Location: The Key to Unlocking your Investment

Christchurch is blossoming in all sorts of ways, and it’s a great place in which to place your investment dollars. The criteria for a great location include population growth, solid or rising employment, and investment in infrastructure.

Christchurch is ticking all those boxes and the future is looking positive in terms of growth. The population of the Canterbury regional council area is projected to grow by, on average, 0.9 per cent a year between 2013 and 2043, slightly higher than the average national growth rate. Canterbury’s population is projected to increase from 560,000 to 730,000 by 2043, with nearly half that growth occurring by 2023.

Canterbury has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the country. It is also experiencing growth in high-income job markets such as IT, which has recently recorded a surge in permanent positions – a trend which suggests good stability.

In terms of infrastructure, the company responsible for repairing publicly-owned, earthquake-damaged pipes, roads and bridges in Christchurch is working towards completion by the end of 2016.

Diversity: Making the Investment Work for You

Designed to executive-standard specifications, the dual-key configuration offers an example of the wide flexibility available to investors in The Verve. Dual-key means an apartment that can be divided into two separate apartments, one larger and one smaller.

Both apartments have their own separate set of keys and both apartments can operate independently of the other, yet are still on one title. The Verve’s dual-key options come with hotel style kitchenettes in the studio apartment.

Dual-key units offer extended families a chance to live together, yet apart. They are also a savvy option for business people who need a base to live and work from. The clever design allows the buyer, investor or owner the flexibility of:

1. Living in one of the apartments and renting out the other,
2. Renting out both, or
3. Living in both, as the apartment configuration allows for this.

The Property Factory has carefully hand-picked the apartments which offer options with flexibility for investors or owner-occupiers.

Timing: Making your Investment Tick

With an eye on the clock face of property investment, the hour hand has begun its steady progress upward, and now is the time to buy. When the market is hot, it’s often too late to make the big gains available to those who get on board early, as has been seen in the sweltering Auckland markets. The Verve, expected to be completed by the end of 2017, is an extraordinary opportunity to get on board while demand is high, but before the market is flooded.

Professionals wanting a central location, expats returning home, families downsizing from a family home and investors are all driving the increasing demand for apartment living in the prime locations around the central Christchurch area. The buoyant return of businesses to the CBD is increasing the pace of that demand.

To accommodate the target of 20,000 residents in the central city, thousands more properties will need to be built. Priced from just under $400,000 to $2 million, The Verve development offers a fantastic opportunity to a range of investors seeking a variety of investment options.

To find out more about The Verve development, please contact Rosie Kininmonth, from The Property Factory, the exclusive investment agents for the Verve. Contact rosie@thepropertyfactory. co.nz or on mobile @ 027 200 4262