- Nearly a third of Kaikōura homes sold in 2026 went to investors or holiday-home buyers.
- Airbnb demand is driving the shift, as buyers favour short-term accommodation over traditional rental investments.
- Agents warn this leaves fewer long-term rentals, while just 43 sales limit the figures’ significance.
A small South Island town where people go to view whales, swim with dolphins, and slurp crayfish from a roadside caravan is now also a hotspot for buyers looking for an Airbnb property.
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Almost a third of all homes sold in Kaikōura in the first half of 2026 went to investors and holiday-home buyers.
That’s a huge lift on the town’s long-term average of just over 10% market share, and the nationwide average of 21%.
Figures from property insights firm Cotality show the biggest share of house purchases by property owners with a mortgage in 2026 was in Papakura (33.2%).
The Auckland district has long been popular with investors for long-term rental properties. Kaikōura comes in next at 32.7%, followed by Mackenzie District (29.8%) and Rotorua (29.7%).
Kaikōura real estate agents told OneRoof that the Canterbury town is known for its spectacular scenery and has a unique property market.
They said the traditional investment market for long-term rentals was small and put the growth down to the growing number of people buying holiday homes to put on Airbnb.
A centrally located two-bedroom unit at 149A Beach Road, with an asking price of $565,000, is considered entry-level for the town. Photo / Supplied
An eight-unit motel complex at 162-164 Esplanade, with a price indication around $2m, is being pitched as a redevelopment or an investment opportunity. Photo / Supplied
Melanie Campbell, from Kaikōura Real Estate, said: “Everyone is talking about Airbnbs, they are not talking about rental properties.”
A lot of buyers viewed it as a better alternative than the more traditional long-term rentals, she said.
“A lot of people don’t want rental properties. They believe that tenants have more rights than landlords, so we are seeing a lot of people switch.”
Campbell said her friends recently paid just under $1m for a house in Kaikōura as a short-term let. “They don’t use it. They just wanted to invest the money, so they’ve purely put it into an Airbnb.”
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The agent, who also owns a holiday let in the town, said that unlike other parts of the country, the first-home buyer market in Kaikōura wasn’t booming.
“We are not seeing loads of first home buyers – we are seeing people buy investment properties, more older people coming in," she said.
“They are not Auckland buyers at all here. We might get the odd one, but our big buying pool is Christchurch, Blenheim, Nelson, that sort of area.”
Campbell said Kaikōura was popular with tourists, so the second-home market there made sense.
Whale watching is a popular activity in Kaikōura. Photo / Getty Images
The famous crayfish caravan Nin’s Bin on State Highway 1, north of Kaikoura, is a must for visitors to the town. Rochelle Riddell Clark, pictured, is the third generation of her family to work there. Photo / Shayne Currie
“We are a destination, there’s no doubt about that. If you look in the weekend, our population ... I wouldn’t say double, but we’ve got people here trying to boat, hike, bike.”
During the off-peak season, there could be up to 300 Airbnbs available, but everything was fully booked in the peak November to February period. “That’s when you can’t get Airbnbs. Everybody’s prices are all up.”
Campbell is currently selling an entry-level two-bedroom unit at 149A Beach Road with an asking price of $565,000, and a motel complex at 162-164 Esplanade with a price indication around $2m.
Campbell acknowledged that recent severe weather events, including torrential rain and flooding, had affected the town but hadn’t had a huge impact on the property market there.
A luxury waterfront retreat at 3 Wakatu Quay is a home-and-income opportunity for buyers with $2.5m-plus to spend. Photo / Supplied
Property Brokers agent Fraser Ibbotson says property prices are climbing. A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Miromiro Drive sold for $62,000 more than what the vendors paid 16 months ago. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts Kaikōura agent Janice Deaver said her buyers were a mix of permanent residents and holiday homeowners. “We don’t have a high level of rental here that attracts the rental investor – I don’t see growth in our rental market, but I do see growth in our holiday market.”
She said that buyers who had previously been priced out of the market had been able to sneak in and buy several properties in the early $600,000s.
Those with a bit more to spend could buy a pretty nice home in the mid-$800,000s, while those with a budget around the mid-$900,000s could pick up the more premium properties with sea views such as her listings at 13 Kotare Place and 36 Kotare Place.
Other listings on her books that could be turned into short-term lets include a two-bedroom townhouse at 2/17 Yarmouth Street, which has an asking price of $669,000, and a waterfront retreat with three fully self-contained apartments at 3 Wakatu Quays, which is inviting enquiries over $2.5m plus GST.
“A lot of these properties would make their way into Airbnb, absolutely. But they are also very much personal holiday homes that people are investing in as well.”
Property Brokers agent Fraser Ibbotson said the large number of Airbnbs in the town meant there were fewer long-term rentals available despite there still being strong demand for them.
Kaikōura was an “easy hit” for investors, he said, because they could buy a rental property and get instant income in the short-term, but potentially have it as a holiday home or retirement in the long-term.
“Prices here are still climbing too, even while the bigger centres have slowed.” A modern three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Miromiro Drive sold last month for $922,000 – $62,000 more than what the owners paid for it 16 months earlier.
Cotality chief economist Kelvin Davidson said it was no surprise that property owners were taking advantage of the tourist market by turning the property into an Airbnb.
“Let’s face it, Kaikōura’s a tourism area; people like to go there on their own holidays.”
However, Davidson said the number of sales in the town was still small: 43 sales in the first half of 2026.
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