South Island

Southland has a current population of 94,000 and offers a uniquely southern lifestyle with a modern touch that is built on a foundation of a strong sense of community. The region’s strengths lie in its natural resources, climate, topography, soils and skilled and dedicated people. The region is a vast area of highly contrasting land, with mountains, rolling hills, native bush, forests, rich plains, lakes, rivers, natural harbours and sandy beaches. This diverse landscape offers a range of opportunities for recreation, lifestyle and industry.

Agriculture, horticulture, dairying, forestry, fishing, light engineering, aluminium smelting and tourism are the driving forces of the Southland economy and there are also niche opportunities for downstream processing, as well as for further crop diversification. Southland’s ‘capital’ Invercargill city offers access to a wide range of shopping and an abundance of golf courses, parks, conference centres, cafes, galleries, art, educational and recreational facilities.

Unemployment is very low, regularly below 4 or 5 %, so jobs and their availability has driven much inward migration with people seeking a better quality of life away from the stresses and strains of the big city. With plenty of choices when it comes to choosing a community, all parts of the region have experienced growth.

There are now 62 different nationalities in Southland, a figure reflective of an economy in great shape, great educational facilities, a brand new hospital and a quality lifestyle. With an influx of new people comes new ideas, something that Southland has taken in its stride, welcoming the vitality that this brings to the business, cultural and social life of the region.

Agriculture

The Southland economy relies on its high performance farming industry, which produces lamb, beef and venison. Extensive value-added processing of these products is undertaken to meet the needs of worldwide niche markets. Highly alkaline soils result in Southland having comparatively higher crop yields than other regions. Barley, oats and wheat are the main crops grown. Southland has a competitive advantage in crops such as root vegetables, flowers and bulb crops.

The region’s dairying industry is undergoing rapid expansion in terms of both milk supply and processing facilities. The growth is being driven by high production results arising from the quality of the soils and favourable climate.

Tourism

Tourism is rapidly becoming a major driver of regional economic and social development in Southland. It is one of the top sectors in the local economy and provides jobs for approximately 15% of the current labour force while contributing $368 million in visitor expenditure. Visitors are drawn to the Milford Sound and Fiordland National Park, the Southern Scenic Route, the Catlins, Stewart Island/Rakiura National Park, along with walking tracks, such as the Routeburn, Kepler and Hump Ridge Track, and a diverse range of other attractions, including fishing, boating, surfing, petrified forests, wildlife, heritage attractions and museums.

Events

There are also an increasing number of nationally and internationally acclaimed events now hosted in Southland, including the Bluff Oyster & Southland Seafood Festival, Hokonui Fashion Design Awards, Hokonui Moonshiners Festival, Gore Gold Guitars, Kepler Challenge, PowerNet Cycling Tour of Southland as well as an increasing number of motorsport and Grand Prix events which are held at Teretonga.

Real Estate – residential, rural and commercial

The Southland region enjoys a low cost of living compared with most other parts of New Zealand. The most significant contributor to this is the fact that residential real estate prices are, on average, lower than in nearly all other regions. Rural property prices have increased considerably over the past five to 10 years, coinciding with the rapid growth in dairy farm conversions. Farm land prices are still well below most regions.

Real Estate & Average Income

A recent study found that discretionary income (which has been defined as the difference between average weekly income in an area and mortgage repayments for an average cost house in the area) was considerably higher in Southland than in Wellington, Canterbury or Auckland.

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