One of Rotorua’s largest residential landholdings is being brought to market.
It presents developers, private capital and institutional investors with the opportunity to help shape the city’s next chapter of residential growth within an increasingly important regional housing market, Bayleys brokers say.
Bayleys land development sales director, Wesley Gerber, together with colleagues Beth Millard and Damien Keenan, is marketing the 54.30ha freehold landholding at 363 Pukehangi Road in Sunnybrook.
They are inviting expressions of interest, closing on Thursday, 30th July 2026 (unless sold prior).
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The property is offered to market as regional centres across New Zealand assume a larger role in accommodating population growth, with infrastructure investment, relative affordability and evolving lifestyle preferences continuing to support demand beyond the country’s largest metropolitan areas.
Supported by an established structure planning framework, Hunts Farm has the capacity for more than 400 residential lots across a range of housing typologies, creating scope for future owners to deliver a substantial new community over multiple development stages.
Gerber says opportunities of its scale are becoming increasingly significant as councils, developers and investors confront the challenge of delivering housing in locations capable of supporting long-term growth.
“Large-scale residential projects have an influence that extends well beyond the boundaries of the site itself,” he says.
“They help determine where future residents live, how communities connect and how cities accommodate growth over the coming decades. Hunts Farm provides an opportunity to participate in that process directly.”
The landholding occupies an elevated north-facing position overlooking Rotorua City, Lake Rotorua and Mount Ngongotahā, while remaining closely connected to established schools, recreational amenities, golf courses and the internationally recognised Redwoods-Whakarewarewa Forest trail network.
The planning framework provides flexibility to respond to changing market requirements, incorporating conventional residential housing, medium-density development, rural-residential living, and a potential neighbourhood commercial centre designed to support future residents.
Bayleys Rotorua’s branch manager, Beth Millard, says that flexibility is increasingly valued by developers seeking to align project delivery with evolving buyer preferences and market conditions.
“The scale of the property creates opportunities for staged delivery and thoughtful masterplanning.
"Future owners can determine how different housing formats are introduced over time and how the community ultimately takes shape.”
Millard says Rotorua’s long-term growth outlook further underpins the opportunity.
“While internationally recognised as a tourism destination, the city today benefits from a diversified economic base spanning forestry, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, education, construction and professional services.
"Its position in the upper North Island places it within practical reach of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, while it continues to attract residents seeking greater affordability and lifestyle accessibility.”
Population projections indicate Rotorua will require thousands of additional homes over the coming decades, placing increasing emphasis on development-ready land capable of delivering housing at meaningful scale.
Bayleys Rotorua commercial salesperson Damien Keenan says Hunts Farm occupies a strategic position within that growth story.
“Rotorua’s future housing needs won’t be met through small, fragmented development alone.
"Delivering meaningful housing supply requires projects that can accommodate growth at scale while creating cohesive, evolving communities.
"Hunts Farm is one of the few opportunities capable of achieving that outcome.”
“For developers and long-term capital, it represents much more than land acquisition – it’s an opportunity to participate in creating a significant new residential community and help shape how Rotorua evolves over the coming generation.”
- Supplied by Bayleys
