An opportunity exists NOW for a property buyer in New Zealand to participate in an International TV documentary. If you’re looking to buy a home or vacation property and would like to have it documented on an American TV show that airs in several different countries around the world, including New Zealand then I need…
Category: Real Estate
Latest QV Figures Are Confirms a Continuing Trend
This is an update from QV for the month of January. From where I was on the ground there seemed to be alot of positives and enthusiasm as the interest rates have come back to record lows and this coupled by the drop in prices making housing affordability more realistic than it has been for…
Heat Recovery Ventilations – One of the Types Out There
New Zealand is a unique case in that the attic air systems are the #1 selling ventilation system. In America and Europe the true HRV or ERV system is preferred whilst the PPV systems are banned because of the danger they represent during a house fire where smoke in the roof space is then pushed…
A Quick Guide To Buying A Home. What To Look Out For, What To Watch.
There is probably no better way to become aware of the condition of a home than to have your home inspected by a licensed inspector. However, there are several considerations on which only you, as the purchaser, can decide. And, as I’ve said in other articles, it’s my belief there are some things you must…
New Zealand Housing Affordability Is The Second Worst In The World
The article below is an article that has been published in the New Zealand Herald and after reading it though I thought was one of the most informative and interesting articles that details the problems that we are facing in terms of our New Zealand housing market. Simply put the prices of our houses in…
OCR Cut 29th January 2009 to 3.5%
This cut in the Official Cash Rate has been very much anticipated by most. We all should be aware of the huge hurt the global economy is in and the huge effect this is having on almost every single market we know. This rate drop is hoped to bring back some business confidence which is…
Going Green – Are You Going to Keep Up With What Society Wants?
Generation Y have been bought up with an awareness of the environment and have become more inclined to use and purchase items that are deemed eco friendly. As a result eco-friendly properties are growing to be more well-liked. For a sellers best interest if your house is eco it’s useful for your buyers to be…
Kitchens And Bathrooms Sell Houses
What are the two areas that we spend the most time in during any one day? The answers is the kitchen and bathroom. These areas are the business areas of anyones home and can easily set your home apart from the others. In previous posts I have spoken about the need, espessially in this current…
The Property Market in 2008
This is an excert from QV in their montly reports. 2008 has been a pivotal year for the NZ property market with a sustained drop in property values for the first time since 1998. QV’s December Residential Price Movement report shows property values fell by 7.4% during the year. “Property values held reasonably flat through…
Selling your house in 2009
Marketing, price, presentation Christmas and New Year is over. We are pretty much now beginning the 2009 year off back into work. I was back at work today to a bombardment of paperwork to be completed. The joys of life. As I said in my previous posts I said 2009 will be a year for…
Grants That Are Avaliable For Christchurch Residents
There are various grants for a variety of things property related in Christchurch and I am going to give you a quick rundown on what is available. There are grants for Character Housing Maintenance Grant Heritage Incentive Fund Funding for insulation and clean, efficient heating Solar Hot Water Heating Grant Clean Heat Project (Open Fires) Character…
New Zealands Household Debt Falls For First Time in 17 Years
Lets start 2009 with a little less bad news from the economys point of view. We are now starting to see some of the effects on the credit crunch and how it is affecting the spending habbits of New Zealanders. In November New Zealand household borrowing fell for the first time in 17 years. This…
Crude Oil Drops To Record Lows as World Economy Crashes
In September I wrote a blog post here about the price of crude oil and how it was falling and yet the price of fuel at the pump was not dropping. Since then I have recieved over 200 emails from readers who have all voiced their opinion in this matter and I think they all…
New Zealanders Moving To Australia In Record Numbers.
I just read an article published on stuff.co.nz and its one that I thiought I need to share with you because of the impact this will be having on the housing market in New Zealand. The article is below: The exodus of migrants to Australia hit a record in the past year, while tourist numbers…
The 4 Real Estate Seasons And Its Effects
During the last few years the real estate market was rising all over and we were experiencing a sellers market. The media went wild over the frenzy and everywhere you looked there was someone or something telling you that real estate was HOT HOT HOT! Prices were going through the roof and there was unprecedented…
What Are You Waiting For?
Its official. Sales volume is the lowest it has been for 16 years 11 months and the market has never been harder to work. Sellers, Buyers and agents… We are all having to adjust, compromise and accept that the days of the boom are well and truly over. And property prices have in fact in…
Christchurch Real Estate Market November/December 2008 Moving Along… Maybe
The Christchurch Real Estate Market was alive and well today. Harcourts Grenadier held 18 Auctions today. After all were conducted the results were quite good. 8 properties sold under the hammer, 2 were sold prior and 2 were sold after the property was passed in and it sounds as though a few will be under…
Is This The Market Bottom Or Just Traditional Summer Rush? December 2008
Today QV (Quotable Value) released their November Data on the New Zealand housing market and it’s fair to say that these statistics will have a few in this industry a little happier, but I feel the need to think is there more to it. QV have said this: QV’s November statistics for the residential property…
Banks World Wide Slashing Official Cash Rates
Interest Rates Around the World are tumbling down as the Reserve Banks of different countries are trying to stabilize their economies as one of the worlds harshest financial crashes crunches down on everybody. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand was the first to kick of cuts in December with a massive 150 basis point cut…
December 4 – OCR Drops to 5% … So What Will This Actually Mean For Us?
Todays OCR rate cut of 1.5% from 6.5% to 5% is a bold move by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and is one that is hope to put some stimulation into our very slow economy. The OCR drop will mean to us as consumers a whole host of things that will save us all…
Google Street View Now Live in New Zealand
Google today announces the launch of Street View on Google Maps in New Zealand: maps.google.co.nz/streetview. Street View is a new feature for Google Maps that lets internet users view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery of New Zealand’s cities, towns, regions and remote areas. More than 100 metropolitan areas in six other countries around the…
The Process of The Sale and Purchase of Property In New Zealand
By New Zealand Law all Contracts for the sale of land and property must be Negotiated in Writing. Most Licensed Real Estate Companies will use the standard form which is prepared by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand and the Auckland Law Society. This contract covers the legal issues necessary to protect both parties…
Emotional Attachment to Selling Your Home vs Reality
In todays market it is both taking longer to sell your home and harder for buyers finance to be approved. This coupled with what seems prices dropping slightly every month is making for a very interesting and tough market to work and sell in. But there is always ways of making the selling process easier…
Building Inspection Checklist
This guide should help with sellers and buyers when looking at doing a property transaction. A good builder friend from New Zealand Home Inspections and me have put this together so that you may use it to your advantage. The information is probably the same as what you already know but it is good to…
New Zealand Houses – The Arts and Crafts
The arts and crafts era (1880’s – 1920’s) takes a side step from the traditional New Zealand home. Recently I have spoken about The Modern Townhouse, The Transitional Home, The New Zealand State House, Art Deco Homes, Beautiful Bungalows and The New Zealand Villa. But both before and during the time of the Villa another…
A Step By Step Guide To Buying At Auction
BUYING AT AUCTION: Auctions can be a daunting time to buy a property as some Auctions you may not have any idea where it might sell or what it is worth. In New Plymouth we have adopted a policy of publishing the Auction Reserve in order for the whole process is transparent. We do about…
The First Home Buyers Market in New Zealand Gets Tougher
Yesterday the ANZ National Bank announced property loans will now have to have a 20% deposit. Now this closes up the banks and means that lending in throughout New Zealand is tightening up and buying is becoming a lot more difficult. The 20% deposit in many cases will now need to be savings which means…
The New Zealand House – The Modern Townhouse
Over the past few weeks we have been speaking about New Zealand houses and their designs. We have covered The New Zealand Villa, The New Zealand Bungalow, The Art Deco Age, The New Zealand State House, The Transitional Period Home and we are onto the Modern Townhouse. Modern Townhouses from the 1990’s to the…
100 Auckland Properties Go To Auction In One Big Event.
Yesterday saw a historic day for Real Estate Auctions in New Zealand. What is said to be this countries largest ever property auction event Ray White of Auckland auctioned 100 properties at one event. As David Leggott said in his blog the event was major. With models, balloons and a DJ involved there was more…
BNZ goes below 7 per cent mortgage barrier
BNZ is throwing down the gauntlet to other banks in slashing its lowest mortgage rate today to below 7 per cent. The ‘mortgage rates war’ was a key battleground four years ago when BNZ and ASB went at it hammer andtongs in the spring of 2004. That tussle over 2 year fixed rates gave the…