Dunedin Central is the most haunted suburb in New Zealand, with seven locations all within walking distance of each other: Regent Theatre, Globe Theatre, Fortune Theatre, Cumberland College, Leviathan Hotel, Fable Dunedin, and Chalet Backpackers. This concentration likely stems from the Otago gold rush, which made Dunedin New Zealand's wealthiest and largest city during the 19th century. When the gold rush ended and the economy declined, buildings weren't torn down; they were simply preserved, ghosts and all.
In contrast to Dunedin Central, Auckland Central's rapid modernisation from the 1960s to 1980s destroyed much of its Victorian CBD. The four haunted locations that remain represent rare survivors, otherwise Auckland Central could be a much darker place, at least in the supernatural sense.
Parnell, meanwhile, is not only New Zealand's most haunted residential suburb but also its most expensive, with a median house price of $2.4 million. All four of its haunted locations are residential houses: Ewelme Cottage, Kinder House, 9 Saint Stephens Avenue, and 1A Brighton Road. However, it’s a tale of two fates: while Ewelme Cottage and Kinder House have been preserved as heritage sites, 9 Saint Stephens and 1A Brighton were ordered for demolition in 2019, proving that ghosts, unfortunately, can't protect houses from modernisation.
Interestingly, with the exception of Dunedin Central, all suburbs on the list have house prices that are greater than the national median of $770,000. The range spans from Bluff Hill in Hawke's Bay at $833,000 to Parnell’s $2.4 million. Once again, our ghosts appear to prefer being where we are. It's hard enough competing with each other for housing, apparently we have the other dimension to worry about as well!
Methodology: Haunted locations were manually sourced and mapped by our resident ghost hunters. While we've been as comprehensive as possible, ghosts can be very private, so this is by no means a complete documentation of all haunted locations in New Zealand. This piece was written in the humorous spirit of Halloween. Median house prices were calculated based on REINZ’s 12 months of sales leading up to October 2025. Auckland Central and Saint Bathans don't have enough house sales to calculate a reliable median price.
