[Timbo]

Rising property prices surprise agents


Against predictions, property values for year to April grow 12.5%, surprising real estate agents



9 May 2005

Real estate agents are surprised that residential property values continue to soar when they would usually slump under the kind economic conditions that are present at the moment.

Values have grown 12.5 percent in the year to April.

The regions which it was predicted would level, such as Auckland, are showing slight increases. Dunedin, Hamilton and Christchurch are the boom areas with increases of around 20 percent.

Quotable Valuations Central Manager Blue Hancock says he has no idea what is causing the rises because they would not usually happen at a time when interest rates are up and net migration is down.

[Carol]

Thought you were talking about the UK again there Timbo! ;) :laugh


Well then - the Real Estate woman who told me last year - "this is as MUCH as you'll ever get - prices will never go higher than this" seems to have been proved wrong!!

Dont you just LOVE that!
:cool :cool :cool :cool :cool

[sarahw]

Yeah Timbo, I heard that on the radio this morning.

Luckily it seems it doesn't apply to the suburb we're living in at the moment... Prices have gone down in the last 3 months (since our house sale in the UK fell through - see silver lining to every cloud!) - one house was on for $400K and now its on at $325K! Seems to be a similar pattern with quite a few in Whitby area - quite a few houses that were on when we were looking & we were considering have gone down in price quite a bit. (yes confession I have been scanning the agents websites most nights dreaming about what we'll buy when our house eventually sells!)

I've been told the market quietens down here a bit during the winter so I'm hoping it holds on another month or 2 until we sell our house & then even though we'll sell our house in UK for less we might make a saving on a house that more than compensates! :nice1

[Moorf]

"this is as MUCH as you'll ever get - prices will never go higher than this"

Property situation here sounds more and more like the boom in the UK and the attitude there in its early stages. I remember hearing the above quote from estate agents in the UK during the late 1990's.

I work almost oppo an estate agency here in Chch and a couple of the ladies come by alot - we often chat about the property market, bit of gossip here and there, and they say that apart from a slight cooling down during the Winter (excuse the pun) they are expecting prices to continue the rise come Spring.

They were also discussing how more "out of town" areas that were once more popular with immigrants, are now becoming more and more popular with the Kiwi's too as they become more prepared to "commute" and that whilst once a "commute" was 20 mins into town, people now are more prepared to travel in from 40 mins away or so.

One lady is transferring to Rangiora branch as she said this is where the prices have, and will, rise the most including along the coast up to Amberley, Ohoka (where prices went mad last year) and Kaipoi.

Here endeth my gossip for the day :laugh

Moorf

[acisman]

Hi

Having just agreed on a house purchase in Morrinsville, near Hamilton, I can confirm that house prices in this area are certainly rising very fast. Additional there are very few properties for sale and those that do come on the market are snapped up quickly.

We had hoped to live in Matamata or Cambridge, but prices here for rural properties on 1/2 to 1 acre sections are now beyond our budget. The lack of houses being available may be due to the time of year, but real estate agents I have spoken to ( and I have spoken to a lot ) say the market is going mad with people leaving Auckland in large numbers to get a better more rural livestyle.

Good rural 3 or 4 bedroom houses on 1/2 to 1 acre + are now fetching $400K around here, with many more than $500K.

Dave

[jo b]

See this is my point about Dannevirke will the Napier, Hastin Palmy commuter move out to the stick eventually??

(See other thread on where will I live.)

Jo

[Moorf]

See this is my point about Dannevirke will the Napier, Hastin Palmy commuter move out to the stick eventually??

Jo

Can't comment on how things are changing up there, but certainly the city mob do seem to be moving out into the "sticks" here (by "sticks" I mean maybe 20 mins further out of Chch - not quite the rural to city commute that Brits would consider a hefty commute). We've always researched our property locations carefully and usually don't buy in the already "up" places and try to look for and identify the "up and coming" areas where you'll be best placed to make more on your investment and probably get more for your $$ at the mo.

All just my opinion, but it's worked for us in the past ;)

Moorf

[jo b]

Thanks Moorf

That what we are trying to do but I suppose evry man and his dog is too.

We also need to be careful not to be too far from schools etc. so I think buying in a close cummunity and then land out in the stick might be the better option.

Jo

[jo b]

Well,

I have been seaching on the RealNz site and saw a property drop from $659 kto $619k in Albany, thats before negotiating a price.

I think the estate agents are possibly 'building up' the market so to speak.

Jo

[Moorf]

An alternative explanation could be the high expectations of homeowners - have noticed a few places round Sumner that have been on the market for ages where the owners had a price in mind that the agents thought was a bit too high but nonetheless the sellers thought they'd give it a go.

They too have now been dropped in price but not a reduced price, just a more realistic one :nice1

[foolsgold99]

I was on customer site today in Auckland (it's a job thing), they are a large real estate company, while installing a new firewall, I got talking to some of the staff.

They tell me that the market is quite slack, and that people aren't getting the prices of this time last year. There is a lot of disapointed sellers out there, and it's a good time to go in with a low offer.

One tip I learned the other day, on the http://www.barfoot.co.nz (not our customer) site, each property has a listing number, the lower the listing number, the longer it's been on the market, and the more likely you are to get away with a lower offer.

[jo b]

That's good info FG99

Hoep everything is good in AKL

Jo