- Masterton’s KFC site, owned by a trust since the 1800s, is the most popular property listing.
- The property, generating over $100,000 annually, has a six-year lease ending in 2029.
- Interest is high from locals and investors, with multiple offers expected at the tender’s closing.
What’s up in Wairarapa? The most popular property listing isn’t a grand home or a modern architectural build, or even a bargain do-up. It’s a KFC, on land that’s just come up for sale for the first time in 150-plus years.
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Masterton’s KFC site, owned by a trust since the 1800s and operating as a fast-food outlet since 1983, has taken that honour, and the property-obsessed public can’t get enough of it. Unusually for any nationwide listing, it has held the title for two weeks in a row.
Colliers real estate agent Angus Findlay, who is marketing the property, said fast-food listings were always popular, especially as investments. “When was the last time you drove past a KFC or McDonald’s that was vacant?” he said. “Their tenure on their locations is usually long. They’re not fly-by-nighters.”
Interest had been coming from locals and investors, he said. “There are definitely people who have been nosy. We’ve also had a wide variety of interest from right throughout the country. I would expect multiple offers at the closing of the tender.”
The KFC at 24 Crayne Street, in Masterton, has racked up thousands of real estate views and is one of the most clicked-on properties on OneRoof in the Greater Wellington region for 2026 (the most viewed is a quirky home in Karaka Bays designed by legendary architect Sir Ian Athfield).
Houses also grab people’s attention in Masterton. This seven-bedroom estate at 15 and 17B Keir Crescent, in Lansdowne, is for sale by negotiation. Photo / Supplied
KFC opened in Masterton in 1983 on land owned by the Masterton Trust Lands Trust, the oldest landowner in the district. Its founder, Joseph Masters, after whom Masterton was named, petitioned Governor George Gray in the 1850s to buy land in the Wairarapa for working-class settlers. The trust owns 50 commercial properties in Masterton as well as community venues including the Con Art Gallery, Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, and the site of the Masterton Foodbank.
Trust general manager Andrew Croskery said the KFC property was being sold to buy higher-value assets. “We recycle property,” he said.
The KFC outlet at 24 Crayne Street is 234sqm in size, sits on 1224sqm land and has an RV of $2.69m. The fast-food chain has a six-year lease on the site, which runs out in 2029. According to the listing on OneRoof, the property generates over $100,000 a year in rental income.
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As a real estate listing, it’s a far cry from the type that usually turns heads. The most eye-catching residential property for sale in the town sits on two titles at 15 and 17B Keir Crescent, in Masterton. It includes the historic Lansdowne House, which is for sale with a guide price of $2m. Lansdowne House, one of two homes in the listing, has a ballroom, formal dining room, servants’ quarters and more.
Masterton’s KFC is not the only fast-food property in New Zealand to attract attention. The Queenstown CBD site occupied by McDonald’s was snapped up last month after only four weeks on the market, and another McDonald’s site, in Kelston, in Auckland, is close to finding a new buyer.
A South Auckland property that features a McDonald’s in its marketing photos but is actually the basement of the building is also drawing attention. Colliers agent Simon Edge, who is selling the property that currently houses a car wash business, said that so far, several investors have shown interest in the building, which has a 10-year lease.
The site of McDonald’s Queenstown CBD was sold last month after just four weeks. Photo / Supplied
A McDonald’s spokesperson confirmed that it owned the road-level unit title that the McDonald’s branch sits on.
Perhaps the last word on the power of KFC in New Zealand should come from Ray White agent Pat Lapalapa. When Lapalapa was getting started in real estate in South Auckland in 2017, he hit the jackpot with his viral sales line for a three-bedroom home in Mangere.
“[The house] was listed with someone else, but when it hadn’t sold after three months, the vendor asked me if I would take over,” Lapalapa told OneRoof in an interview in 2021.
“I was walking in the backyard when I realised I could smell KFC. I said to the client, ‘How far is KFC from here?’ He said it was just around the corner. I knew straightaway what title we could put on the advertising: Walking distance to KFC. The client laughed, but I was serious. We had nothing to lose, so we did it. We had three offers within a week, and the house sold in seven days. I was surprised; I was just trying to do something that would catch people’s attention. It worked!”
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