News the Hilton will manage the twin hotels at the troubled billion-dollar Kawarau Falls Station along with the recently revealed plans for the Five Mile retail development have taken "a lot of uncertainty out of the market. It's a real shot in the arm - people are taking heart in those few positive announcements."
Mr Boult is also Christchurch Airport CEO and said increased flights into the resort as well as 70,000 passengers travelling on AirAsia X into Christchurch could only bolster tourists numbers for Queenstown.
Four of the Threepwood lots have been sold to Wakatipu people, with the fifth going to an Auckland man.
In 2007, before the credit crunch, Mr Boult had sold 20 of 42 lots. However, since then there had been "a lot of interest that hadn't translated into sales". Recently, he had "repositioned" pricing on the lots "to meet the expectations of the current market".
He said there was a new optimism in the district as people realised they could no longer wait for recession bargains. His prediction is that house prices will gradually inch up over 2011.
"Clearly, the market has now turned and it's great to see sales of lots, particularly to locals intent on building houses.
"It's good to see some action after a couple of years of being dead in the water - it's good to see people out and about."
