One of my frustrations as a real estate agent is the conflation of data from Queenstown Lakes area with data from Central Otago.

It’s an issue worth clarifying because it can have a direct impact on both buyers and sellers.

Tall Poppy Central Otago covers the same boundaries as the Central Otago District Council (CODC). It’s a surprisingly big area, with Alexandra as the hub and rolling out in all directions from there. If you have a look at this map, you’ll see we reach as far south as Beaumont, west past Ranfurly, east into the Kawarau Gorge and north past Tarras. Queenstown and Wanaka are not included.

Unfortunately, much of the real estate data that emerges in the media doesn’t distinguish between Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes.

The two markets are very different. Queenstown Lakes has higher prices and far more international buyers. Central Otago has a lower average price and, while we do have outsiders coming in, we have more “locals” from the wider lower South Island looking to buy here.

For buyers, this conflation of the areas paints a negative picture of Central, making houses seem more unaffordable than they really are. Our median price ($694,500) is much closer to the national average (around $767,000) than Queenstown Lakes ($1,375,000). We don’t want prospective buyers ruling out our area because the numbers are distorted by high medians in Queenstown and Wanaka.

For sellers, the danger is the conflated data creates unrealistic expectations. When the Queenstown Lakes market is hot, it looks like our region is selling well above CV so buyers want to ask top dollar.

But Queenstown and Wanaka often escape the effects of a downturn by attracting buyers with deep pockets and from offshore.

Don’t get me started on the next level problem, where price data is given for the whole of Otago, taking no consideration of the very different micromarkets we have including places as diverse as Dunedin and Omakau, Arrowtown and Tapanui.

Our region still has affordable homes as well as top-of-the-range offerings. It doesn’t have the booms and busts of big markets like Auckland, so when you read about big swings in prices they likely don’t apply here where price movement follows a gentler curve.

Remember, also, that while we cover a big area we have far fewer sales than many NZ regions, so a couple of high, or low, priced sales may skew a month’s median price.

If you are thinking of buying or selling in Central Otago, the key lesson is to make sure you understand the regional data, or, at the very least, your agent does.