NZ Property Investor

Happy new year and welcome to 2023. We hope your holiday season has been happy and you're feeling refreshed and excited about the year ahead. It's easy to be bogged down in the doom and gloom stories about the property market. Drama sells newspapers (and encourages clicks) and property is prime fodder for this … Kiwis love their houses and when there's the sniff of a downturn it's a news media feeding frenzy. It can be hard to feel positive when there are so many headwinds (and negative headlines) but as we all know, property is about staying the course. There are always highs and lows, so for this issue, we've decided to turn that negativity on its head. There's no denying that some people will are concerned that rising interest rates, inflation,…

Tracking by Colliers International research shows over the first nine months of this year 1,159 apartment units will be completed in Auckland. A further 1,963 should be finished before the end of the year. If achieved, 3,122 new apartments will be added to the city's inventory, making it only the third time since 2000 that more than 3,000 new apartments have been completed in a calendar year. The development acceleration has been underpinned by the growing appeal of apartment living in the suburbs. This year 22 suburban apartment developments will make up 75 per cent of the regional total, up from 19 per cent in 2016. Colliers International research associate director Ian Little says development intentions remain positive as illustrated by building consents which have reached a record 50,653 in the year to…

Tenancy law changes that came into place last year haven't been clear when it comes to acts of family violence or physical violence towards a landlord. But new guidelines have now been put in place for people seeking correct information around these extremely delicate and complicated issues. Tenancy Services has just released information that will provide more clarity and guidance around regulations; these hopefully will help landlords better understand the procedural requirements when acts of violence occur in the context of a tenancy. The Residential Tenancies Act allows for a tenancy to be ended in the following circumstances: FAMILY VIOLENCE A tenant who experiences family violence during a tenancy can remove themselves from the tenancy by giving the landlord at least two days written notice in the approved form (with qualifying evidence of family…

Q How do I know when I should sell my existing property and put the money into new builds instead? I am worried about the new tax rules. A I cannot tell you when you should sell your existing property, because whether or not you should sell it and when you should do so depends on a host of factors. For example, before selling a property you will want to understand what the tax consequences are. Is the property still within its bright-line period? Additionally, even if the interest in relation to the property is not deductible (or subject to reduced deductibility), are there other reasons for retaining the property, such as development potential? Finally, there is the possibility of a change in government next year and interest becoming deductible again to consider. Putting…

Auckland's housing market sales in November were the lowest in 12 years while stock levels for Barfoot & Thompson, the city's biggest real estate agency, hit an 11-year high. Despite this, Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson says the market is far from being in full retreat in the face of rising mortgage interest rates, the return of inflation and low consumer economic confidence. The agency sold 700 properties in November, up from 627 in October, but down from 1,182 or -41 per cent compared to November 2021. The 700 homes sold in the month was the highest for the past six months. “Property is selling, albeit at a level lower than at the same time in 2021. What it demonstrates is vendors and buyers are reaching an agreement as to where…

HOUSE PRICES: DOWN After peaking at $992,832 in January last year, the national average asking price fell below $900,000 in November for the first time since mid-2021, realestate.co.nz data shows. This is a drop of about $10,000 per month. The national average asking price was also down by -8.4 per cent, or $82,083, in November last year compared to November 2021. OCR: UP The Reserve Bank's official cash rate sits at 4.25 per cent with the Reserve Bank saying more rises are to come. INTEREST RATES: UP The BNZ only added 45 basis points to its floating rate. The hike is far less than both the Reserve Bank's OCR rate rise of 75 basis points, and its rivals. This leaves BNZ's floating rate now even below the equivalent Kiwibank rate. For every fixed term, BNZ's…