Blog Authors Wanted I am currently in the process of looking for blog authors to contribute to Christchurch Real Estate.
If you are based in Christchurch and would like to have more promotion and exposure online to a very large market I would love to hear from you. I am running out of time and resources to keep writing interesting topics on this blog and this is not what I want for this site. I am looking for 2 or 3 more authors who want to help create a fantastic Real Estate blog site for the people of Christchurch, New Zealand. If you’re an agent, sales person, mortgage broker or investor/expert and want further exposure online I would love to hear from you.
Currently this site gets approx 200 unique visitors per day and approx 700 page impressions per day. This is huge exposure that you as an active player in the Real Estate industry could give you a great heads up. Before the recent change in the domain names this site had received over 150,000 unique views with over 400,000 hits. It has been running for just on two years and its about time to make it a powerful resource for people searching Real Estate especially here in Christchurch.
Over the next few weeks I will be slightly changing the look of this blog so that it better reflects the intentions I have as a Christchurch Real Estate Blog which will benefit the general user who comes to this site for information or for you as a potential author of the site
If you have a general interest then please send me an email to deon@deonswiggs.com with your blog / website for me to look over. If you do not have a website / blog, then do not worry – if you are a good writer and it shows then just email me with some information about yourself. I am looking for 2-3 authors to contribute. I can guarantee that by even just submitting a few articles on here about your particular field your local exposure will be greatly increased.
Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you.
February 27 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Christhchurch Property Trends
Property values in Christchurch declined by 1.9% over the past year (calculated over the three months ending August 2009 in comparison to the same period last year), a substantial improvement on the 5.5% annual decline reported in July. The average sale price for the city increased slightly from to $342,993 to $344,401. Values in Christchurch are down 7.6% since the market peak.
The figures are showing a fifth consecutive month of recovery in Christchurch’s residential property market, indicating a period of consolidation heading toward the summer months. These numbers still need to be treated with caution however.
Suburban Christchurch has held well, with all suburbs showing an improvement year-on-year. The market is showing clear segmentation with the level of activity strongest in the under $350,000 market, closely followed by the $350,000 to $500,000 price range. Local agents report a shortage of listings which is putting pressure on properties currently on the market and consequently we are a seeing healthy sale prices. The auction process also appears to be providing strong results. However, I am fairly confident that this represents a small bubble in the market and is nothing more than a volume-related issue for the short term
QV expect to see things soften slightly as the spring and summer months bring more listings to the market. Overall there has been an improvement in market sentiment, although buyer behaviour is still cautionary with job security and the ability to service debt being key factors for some folks at present. Looking forward we anticipate a more traditional spring and summer market
From where I sit I can see the market seems to be in a very edgy state. There is definitely a fair bit of movement happening and plenty of buyers out there wanting to lock into the market when there is cheaper money available and lower prices of houses compared to the prices 2 years ago. Bt how long do you think this seriously will last for.]
Take a deep breath. Look at the fact that the OCR is not going to stay low. The cost of borrowing isn’t getting any cheaper any more, household debt is still high. There is increasing pressure being put on the export market because of the high kiwi dollar and there are many other factors that mean that the housing market potentially has a lot to worry about
If you lock in now I feel that you will be safe from the harder times that may be ahead. But if you wait too long it will be harder and this will price the first home buyers out of the market. When the first home buyers become priced out of the market there will be problems with the economy. This will mean that older people are going to be the home owners of the future and the people migrating to New Zealand will also benefit, but the dollar will hinder that as well.
There is too much uncertainty out there at the moment to say that a rebound is happening. If you look at the facts it is clear to see that the sales volume is increasing and that the median is on the way up. But be cautious about the future woes that lie around the corner. If you want to act do it sooner rather than later.
September 15 2009 | The Market | No Comments »
Christhchurch Property Trends
Property values in Christchurch declined by 8.1% over the past year (calculated over the three months ending May 2009 in comparison to the same period last year), an improvement on the 9.6% annual decline reported in April. The average sale price for the city decreased slightly from $342,929 to $339,695.
These annual numbers need to be treated with caution, as the same period last year was a time of decline, measured against the month ending May 2009 which shows a period of flattening. So by default the numbers will show a recovery. It is a positive sign as far as market sentiment goes, but it is still too early to tell whether this 3-month stabilisation is the start of an extended levelling-off period. The small decrease in the average sale price is easily skewed by the mix of property being sold, so although this has limited value, it does reinforce a flattening in the market.
Suburban Christchurch has held well, with the central, northern, eastern and hill suburbs all showing an ease in the rate of annual decline. The central and northern suburbs are showing the largest recovery of 2.7 per cent” Mrs. Swallow said.
Mrs. Swallow of QV says “Anecdotal evidence from different market segments suggests the level of activity to be strong under $350,000, which typically represents the entry-level and investor part of the market. This is followed closely by the $350,000 to $600,000 market segment, which generally represents the next step up the property ladder for most people. The market segment of properties priced over $600,000 appears to have the least amount of activity. Again, this needs to be kept in context as it represents a much smaller part of the market overall. Properties over $1,000,000 are very slow to sell in Canterbury at present”
It seems as though job security is still the key driver behind purchase decisions at present. This lack of security, coupled with the normal seasonal variation, means we expect to see a continuing pattern of consolidation over the winter period
Property values continue to stabilise
The QV national residential property indices for May showed an 8.1 per cent decline in property values over the last year, a considerable improvement on the 9.2 per cent decline reported last month. This is the second month in a row where the year on year change has improved.
This improvement is due to continued stabilisation of property values in recent months, and contrasts significantly to a market that was declining sharply twelve months ago.
This latest trend as I pointed out in my last blog post is unlikely to continue. So if you need to sell, sell now!
|
|
|
|
|
 Auckland Region |
| -7.6% |
| $483,397 |
| Hamilton |
| -7.5% |
| $346,274 |
| New Plymouth |
| -5.4% |
| $319,073 |
| Palmerston Nth |
| -8.9% |
| $274,418 |
| Christchurch |
| -8.1% |
| $339,695 |
| Queenstown |
| -8.4% |
| $600,414 |
| Invercargill |
| -10.3% |
| $205,552 |
|
 |
| Whangarei |
| -12.8% |
| $327,073 |
| Tauranga |
| -9.4% |
| $425,621 |
| Rotorua |
| -9.5% |
| $267,342 |
| Napier |
| -8.9% |
| $311,373 |
| Hastings |
| -9.7% |
| $295,508 |
| Wellington Rgn |
| -7.4% |
| $424,411 |
| Nelson |
| -6.7% |
| $333,812 |
| Dunedin |
| -5.4% |
| $264,180 |
|
|
|
| New Zealand |
| -8.1% |
| $371,555 |
|
Annual Property Value Change
Average Sales Price |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
source QV
What is the Market Doing Now?
The last property slump was in the early 90’s and in that time New Zealand experienced a mass exodus with immigration figures at one stage peaking at close to 40,000 (decrease) in a 12 month period. This created a surplus of housing and resulted in subdued sales and lower prices. At least through this recession migration figures have stayed in the positive. The lowest point was in February 2008 recording a net increase of 4600 over a 12 month period. Figures from Statistics NZ show seasonally adjusted net migration rose to 2,030 in April from 1,690 in March and is running at 9200 over the past 12 months. So with net migration figures in the positive, and still growing, it will only be a matter of time before this influx creates buyer demand and turns the property market from a “buyers” market to a “sellers” market.
Interest Rates – They are on the move so be prepared to act fast.
Longer term interest rates are still continuing to rise. This is a bit of a concern and disappointing for those who like to lock in long term. However the short term rates are very attractive and offer some significant savings. I wouldn’t expect to see any significant reduction in long term rates as the market is pricing in at the higher levels now. With the enormous amount of “money printing” by Governments around the world the next problem will be inflation. And that means higher interest rates. So fixing at 7.5% now may actually seem cheap in 2 or 3 years time as interest rates may escalate. Clients who have fixed for 4 or 5 years over the past 6 months will be on a winner if this eventuates. Whether you fix short or long will depend on your situation and strategy so don’t hesitate to call if you want some advice in regards to your situation.
Current interest rates
6month 5.45
1yr 5.50
2yr 6.25
3yr 6.99
4yr 7.50
5yr 7.99
June 11 2009 | The Market | 4 Comments »
Although this has nothing to do with Real Estate this is my blog and I actually think David Bain and his legal team and supporters deserve a big well done for their efforts over the last 14 years to try and bring justice to their cause. A few friends of mine down here in Christchurch have been involved in the retrial over the last few months and by all accounts it sounds like it has been a stressful time for everyone.
This is a story of true dedication and commitment to do what one thought was rightly due to himself. If you dont agree with the outcome of the case so be it, its not really any concern of anyone. We need to actually look at the story behind the scenes and take away something from it. Fighting and driving toward what you believe is right with passion and dignity is what all New Zealanders should strive towards achieving.
All the best David.
For anyone interested here is a timeline of David Bain's story - thanks to the New Zealand Herald
* June 20, 1994 – David Bain’s parents, Robin and Margaret, two sisters, Laniet and Arawa, and brother, Stephen, are shot and killed in their Dunedin home. Bain calls emergency services in a distraught state.
* June 24, 1994 – Bain is charged with five counts of murder. The following day the rest of his family are farewelled by 1000 mourners.
* July 7, 1994 – Bain home is razed by Fire Service at request of family.
* October 1994 – Depositions hearing begins and Bain is committed for trial in May 1995.
* May 8, 1995 – Three-week-long murder trial begins in the High Court at Dunedin. Unprecedented public and media interest.
* May 29, 1995 – Jury finds Bain guilty on all five murder counts.
* June 21, 1995 – Bain sentenced to mandatory life term, with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years.
* December 19, 1995 – Court of Appeal dismisses Bain appeal.
* May, 1996 – A petition to Privy Council seeking leave to appeal fails.
* July 22, 1996 – Court of Appeal lifts suppression order covering defence witness Dean Cottle and evidence that was to have been presented at Bain’s murder trial. It alleges Laniet told Cottle that her father was having an incestuous affair with her and she was going to confront the family.
* April 16, 1997 – Joe Karam launches his book, David and Goliath. It says Robin, not David, was the killer, and that police botched the investigation.
* May 5, 1997 – Police appoint Assistant Commissioner Brion Duncan to head an independent inquiry reviewing police handling of the murder investigation.
* June 23, 1997 – James McNeish releases his book, The Mask of Sanity, which concludes that David was the killer.
* November 25, 1997 – Police in the murder investigation are cleared by the joint police and Police Complaints Authority inquiry. It finds no serious flaws in the police investigation and says criticism that police were incompetent is unjustified.
* March 1998 – Police officers to sue Karam over claims in his book.
* June 1998 – Petition of 113 pages and 290-page supporting document seeking a pardon for Bain is lodged with the Governor-General.
* June 1999 – Former Dunedin pathologist Jim Gwynne presents petition to Governor-General seeking pardon for Bain. Dr Gwynne says evidence shows Robin Bain committed suicide.
* June 9, 2000 – Damages suit brought against Karam by two Dunedin detectives, one since retired, fails in the High Court at Auckland.
* December 19, 2000 – Bain has aspects of his case referred back to the Court of Appeal. Justice Minister Phil Goff said an investigation had shown that “a number of errors” may have occurred in the Crown’s presentation of its case.
* October 2002 – Court of Appeal considers four aspects of the case referred to it by Mr Goff.
* December 20, 2002 – Mr Goff announces the case is to be reheard in full by Court of Appeal.
* September, 2003 – Court of Appeal hears case.
* December 13, 2003 – Court of Appeal decides a retrial was not needed on the grounds that the new evidence would not have changed the jury’s verdict.
* June 7, 2006 – Bain’s legal team wins right to a full Privy Council hearing.
* March 8, 2007 – Five-day Privy Council hearing in London begins.
* May 10, 2007 – Privy Council delivers decision, ordering a retrial.
* May 15, 2007 – Bain granted bail at hearing in Christchurch High Court
* June 21, 2007 – Solicitor-General rules that Bain will face a retrial
* March 6, 2009 – Retrial begins. Bain pleads not guilty to five charges of murder
* June 4, 2009 – Retrial ends, jury begin deliberations
* June 6, 2009 – David Bain found not guilty of all the murders.
June 05 2009 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
I am not going to harp on about any statistics or any comments made by the so called experts. All I would like to see here is a real discussion on what you actually think and what your actually seeing out there on the streets. For several months now I have speaking directly to business owners and I have seen a very clear trend with most of them. The exceptions being liquor stores and video stores .I will explain soon.
In my time speaking to businesses there has been a very downward spiral in their sales. Since Easter there has been a drop off to very slim pickings in terms of sales. I have even noticed this within the business I have been working where I have noticed sales drop to half of what they were 4 months ago and we haven’t been alone in this. I have had almost all of the 400 businesses I am dealing with say the same thing except for those exceptions I said before.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to think that its hard out there now. Just drive down the main street of Christchurch or any City in New Zealand and see how many businesses are closed down and how many shops are closed.
Is winter going to be a downturn in the masses where we see much more the redundancies that we are already seeing. From what I see most business owners have less money. The waged people are safe until their employer can’t pay them anymore which is seeing most keep their hands in their pocket when it comes to spending and only spend limited amounts when they need to. This is why the liquor stores and video stores seem to be doing well as people must be staying home drinking and entertaining.
In your observation what are you seeing. Have you been in or are you in a situation that is causing you to budget. Please leave comments, let us know what’s happening out there on the ground.
May 13 2009 | The Market | 1 Comment »
Christchurch
This is the latest Press Release from QV.
Property values in Christchurch decreased by 9.7% over the last year (calculated over the three months ending March 2009 in comparison to the same period last year), deteriorating further from the 9.1% annual decline reported in February. The average sale price for the city increased slightly from $344,816 to $349,442.
Melanie Holcroft of QV Valuations said; “The Central and Northern suburbs are holding as the strongest areas of Christchurch City, with the Eastern suburbs mirroring the Canterbury market. The Hill suburbs have decreased from -8.1% in February 2009 to -9.9% in March 2009. The upper end of the market seems to be experiencing less activity compared to the middle and lower sections”.
“Property values since December 2008 continue to decline, although this appears to be at a slowing rate. Whilst the average sale price for Christchurch City shows a small lift, it must be kept in context as this data is easily skewed by normal market fluctuations and the mix of property being sold,” she said.
“The anecdotal signs of increased market activity with properties that are well priced continue on from last month, and buyers are showing plenty of interest in these. It should be noted however that the overall sentiment is still cautionary, with job security appearing to be the key driver affecting purchasing decisions. Local banks are also reporting a noticeable increase in pre-approvals, but this is still slow to filter through into market activity. We anticipate a slower market over the winter months, with current trends in line with seasonal behaviour,”Holcroft said.
Here is a snap shot of New Zealands Median Price for Property over the past 9 years.
Now here is the median for the same 9 year period in Christchurch.
The trend is very much the same.
Now the big change that agents have noticed is the drop in sales volume. Here is a graph from treasury that shows the drop in sales volume over the last two years and how it has changed.
As you can see there is a huge drop of with sales volume at about the time of the housing crisis in The United States which has evolved to the global credit crunch. But on the other side of this look at how steep the sales volume grew. This is post the 9/11 Twin Tower events which saw the number of migration of ex pats and new people to New Zealand grow at very fast rates as the graph below shows.
Now whether 9/11 was hoaxed by the Illuminati in a bid to change the world and protect certain people wealth or it was a real act of terrorism are still up for debate but the after effects have been more than anyone can detest. The jobs and employment from the upbeating of security was massive and in New Zealand the return home of thousands of New Zealanders pumped billions into the economy. But this caused the bubble that just kept getting bigger and bigger and created more and more debt. This debt is the real reason for the market the way it is. Now we have inflated prices with less capital and the same amount of debt.
When will the housing market start to move again.
Signs are already of more activity and there is a clear sign of migration numbers increasing as more people return home. These people have to live somewhere.
April 25 2009 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | 1 Comment »
Saturday 25th April 2009
As the years go by, the crowds at services commemorating ANZAC Day grow bigger every year, and the elements of gratitude and pride are becoming more apparent. The age range at Dawn Services, from babies to people in wheelchairs, reflects this.
People now attend the Dawn Service and other services for a lot more reasons than they have in the past. While they attend to honour the sacrifices made by family members and others in our community who have served during time of conflict, they now also do it to pay tribute for the peace which has ensued: people are very aware that the peace they now enjoy has been brought about by the sacrifices made.
A RNZAF Boeing 757 will fly over Cathedral Square at 6.55am, to coincide with the ending of the Dawn Service, and coffee and Anzac biscuits will be available for the public afterwards.
The Christchurch Tramway is also offering returned service people a free ride on the tram, as a sign of their respect for those who have served our country. For the duration of ANZAC Day, Saturday 25th April, any services people showing their service medals or other form of identification can board free of charge. In addition, at the completion of the Service, free trams will be available for anyone wishing to travel to the RSA in Armagh Street.
Below are details of all services in the city.
Air Force Museum, Harvard Avenue 12.00 noon
Akaroa War Memorial (meet at fire brigade station, 10.45am) 11.30am
All Saints Church, 305 New Brighton Road 11.00am
Citizens’ Service, ChristChurch Cathedral 10.00am
Dawn Service, Cathedral Square 6.30am
Diamond Harbour Memorial Hall (assemble at store, 10.30am) 11.00am
Halswell Domain, War Memorial 9.00am
Heathcote, Cnr Martindale and Bridle Path Roads 6.15am
Hei Hei, War Memorial 9.00am
Jane Deans Close, 20th Battalion, off Harakeke Street 9.00am
Little River Community Centre 9.30am
Lyttelton: War Graves Cemetery, Reserve Terrace 9.00am
Lyttelton Cenotaph (assemble at Port Company, 9.45am) 10.15am
New Brighton, Opp. New Brighton Working Men’s Club 9.30am
Papanui, St James Park, St James Avenue 9.10am
Paparua, Kirk Road Pharmacy, Templeton 10.15am
Prebbleton, Memorial, Springs Road 9.00am
Rolleston, assemble at new community hall 11.00am
Sumner/Redcliffs, Outside All Saints Anglican Church, 10.45am
Upper Riccarton War Memorial Library, 372 Riccarton Road 6.30am
Victoria Park, 19th battalion, assemble in carpark 7.45am
source: bethere.co.nz
image deleted
April 24 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
For the last few days Christchurch has been abuzz with activity. The Ellerslie International Flower Show has hit Hagley Park and there are people from all over coming here to look at the show. This morning I decided to go along and have a look and the quality of the stalls and arrangements are just great. There has been some great effort put into the stalls as always. The Ellerslie International Flower Show is an internationally recognised brand and because of this draws a global audience of thousands.There were people from all over today looking around the event. One couple I was speaking to from Germany flew all the way just to visit the show and as a result of this have also set themselves three weeks of touring the South Island. This must be good for business.
The focus of the Show is as much about our homes and our lifestyles as it is about gardens – the plants, garden design, colour, structure and form. Most importantly, the iconic event provides the horticultural, floral, landscape design and construction businesses with the opportunity to showcase to a global audience the best of what New Zealand has to offer.
Christchurch has also put its own ’stamp’ on the show – introducing a number of new features, including the Taste of the South – the best food and wine the South Island has to offer. It will showcase the unique English heritage that helped name Christchurch ‘The Garden City’ in 1906 during the Great New Zealand Exhibition held in the same site, as well as highlighting the special tanga te whenua. Christchurch will also recognise that sustainability is no longer a trend but rather a necessity in the 21st Century Sustainability is about design re-using, recycling and responding with sensitivity to our environment and landscape.
If you havent had a look yet I fully reco
mmend that you do take a look. The artworks are truely inspirational and have definately given me a few ideas about how I would like to build my home and garden in the future. Its also nice to have the event now held in New Zealands Garden City of Christchurch. This is the first time it has been held down here, It is usually held in Ellerslie in Auckland. But hey lets hope it stays.
March 12 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
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 some areas come back 10% and some places maybe more. Negativity is so easy to talk about these days when the markets are depressed. Every day we are all hearing about the Credit crisis, banks bailout, tougher lending, house prices and sales fall, car industry crashes, jobs been slashed, and I could go on for a very long time.
These of course are the reality of today but we have to look in hindsight at whats happened prior to bring this about and the fact of the matter is that too many of us are forgetting about is that from 2000 to 2007 there were 7 years where there was the biggest economic growth this world has ever seen. This created jobs in huge amounts businesses were making money without huge expense and effort, many people bought property and in 4 years sold it for double what they paid for it enabling them to buy bigger and better homes and allowing others to get into the market easily at the time. We were all living relatively good lifestyles and many of us were probably living at a level above where we deserved to be.
Reality has hit home but is this a reason to be scared, freak out and stop doing the economic activities we used to do? NO! It’s a time to consolidate definitely and a time to work smarter and stop being lazy. Do you want to be left behind and watch the ones who take action now prosper in ten years time. Are you going to be the one who says, dam I wish I took action when there was time. I sure hope not. There is no reason to worry, it’s time to start opening your eyes up and see whats happening around you. We have seen a major shift in the market place one which few people really expected, homes and property continue to be bought and sold at new levels every day of the year. There are always people who need to sell, and people who need to buy, and so long as there are these 2 people in the market, property will sell. It just won’t sell at prices that where around in 2007.
Housing prices today right now are in many places at a level that has made homes right across the board more affordable. And in my view the key to selling your property in 2009 will be in the ability to show that your home has the best value for money on the market, and attract the right buyers to it, and when you’re buying and selling on the same market you aren’t gaining or losing any of that market change. Don’t be afraid to step up to the mark and make a move.
There are some very good buys out there now. We don’t know if there will be better buys to come. All we can do is work with what we have now, and there are plenty of people wanting to sell. Plenty of people are wanting to buy. Enquiry on this blog has doubled in the past three weeks and the search terms are mostly about how to find a good buy. If you want to know where a good buy is, talk to a trusted real estate agent. In this market as a seller they are going to be your best help and also for a seller a real estate agent will be helpful in so many ways. Its bridging that expectation gap which the agents do in order to meet everybody’s needs which is so important.
I have a very large social network online and am in constant contact with them. Today I conducted an experiment. On Twitter I asked a simple question. ‘What are your concerns going into 2009?’ 70% of the response I received was positive and about the opportunities that they see coming into play now. The other 30% were concerned about the financial pressures of life. Which person do you think is going to take action and prosper from it.
Take action. Don’t sit by and let things happen before you. If you have a problem, for example you need a job transfer somewhere and you need to sell the house, take action and sell it. Maybe consider a part swap of a possession somewhere else or something else to sweeten the deal to the buyer. These things will work and you will see the results. I believe the time of opportunity is near. But the opportunity is lost if your too late. Be in. Don’t be scared and think of the long term goal. If your purchasing a home today, tomorrow or in the near future good luck. There are some great buys out there for you to snap up and they arent a trick. This is for real. People lived lives a step above what they earnt and now are having to take the hit. This is the opportunities for you.
December 16 2008 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
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 offer in the next few days. The interesting thing to note is that many of the properties that were been Auctioned today were of the higher end of the market.
This may be good news for the market in the fact it shows that the buyers are still out there and there are still people with money to buy. Sales numbers on previous years are well below what they were so it is still more important than ever to have your property stand out. Targeted, high profile marketing, sound presentation combined with a strong structure and a competitive edge when it comes to the price and you will attract the buyers out there to your property and hopefully the hard work put in will get an offer on the table that if not at an acceptable level you can work with.
The total amount of sales this year has been consistently moving downwards as the economy in New Zealand has been crippled by the global credit crisis. In recent months there has been some relief for us all with interest rates falling, fuel prices falling and tax cuts from the government but these are still not seen to be enough to help some of the struggling families out there as many won’t feel these reductions for many months to come. So the market still has some
The statistics below show the data collected by the REINZ for the Christchurch Central Area (The 4 Avenues) and how much different this year has been to two years ago.
The tables below read: DATE; MEDIAN; TOTAL SALES; DAYS ON MARKET
|
May 2008
|
$322,500.00
|
57
|
52
|
|
|
Jun 2008
|
$357,500.00
|
42
|
47
|
|
|
Jul 2008
|
$342,500.00
|
40
|
57
|
|
|
Aug 2008
|
$334,950.00
|
43
|
57
|
|
|
Sep 2008
|
$332,250.00
|
34
|
59
|
|
|
Oct 2008
|
$310,000.00
|
33
|
47
|
|
|
Nov 2008
|
$310,000.00
|
35
|
45
|
|
Now Compare this for the same period 2 years ago.
|
May 2006
|
$315,000.00
|
86
|
42
|
|
Jun 2006
|
$319,000.00
|
82
|
41
|
|
Jul 2006
|
$298,750.00
|
92
|
41
|
|
Aug 2006
|
$307,000.00
|
84
|
53
|
|
Sep 2006
|
$300,000.00
|
77
|
53
|
|
Oct 2006
|
$327,000.00
|
82
|
38
|
|
Nov 2006
|
$300,000.00
|
91
|
40
|
|
Dec 2006
|
$355,000.00
|
93
|
43
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You can see quite clearly that the sales volume is below half of what it was two years ago for the exact same area. This is why it is so important to do all the things I mentioned above. The fact of reality is that there are more listings than last year and half the sales. Dont be the one sitting on the market and not selling. Be one of the ones who do sell. It is hard to look at the price from these graphs and compare it in this cross section as it is only a small sample of the market and too much influencial data can skew the data. But below is a graph of the median price for this Christchurch Central (4 Avenues) area. The other thing is the sales stats from the REINZ only show medium not average so many influencing factors can skew the graph over each month.
The market is not completely dead, as I said right at the start of this post there are still properties selling and today we saw a number sell under the hammer which just hasnt been heppening to that extent on a consistent basis for a while now. The feeling I get is buyers are ready to buy but are waiting for that opportunity that they consider a good buy. Most buyers I talk to out there say there is still a lot of room for the market to move. And unfortunately when your in a buyers market these are the words that are going to ring true in many cases. The sales volume for New Zealand in November 2008 were 4297 sales. The next lowest was in August 2008 with 4220. But previous to this years shocking sales volume drop the lowest sales in any given month was a massive 16 years ago when in January 1992 there were 4,427 sales.
Buyers are holding tight, but are still buying in other ways. Its a funny market, one none of us can predict.
There are people out there that can see good buys but so many more are saying they will get better and are waiting.
December 11 2008 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | 2 Comments »
Well today is the last day of officially living in New Plymouth. I have been reflecting on what I have achieved and learnt with my time here in New Plymouth and all I can really say is it has been a steep and progressive learning curve. I came to New Plymouth after leaving the Navy to look after my sick father. I had my Real Estate Sales Persons Certificate and managed to land a position selling with Harcourts in New Plymouth. This was when the real education started.
When I started selling I was only 20, almost 21. It was the first time I had never had a paid income coming in every week since I was 15 and after a month of that really freaked me out. On top of this the capital outlay to set my brand and the business up in New Plymouth was massive. They say when you start Real Estate to not expect any income for at least 6 months. I was fortunate to have scored a little listing at a small apartment complex in town and after doing all the right things sold it after the first weekend of open homes. This was really the kick start that started my real estate career.
From here on it became interesting. I started in August 2007 and the peak of the market was about November 2007 and ever since then it has gone down and making sales has become very much harder. But through my time I worked hard and continually invested time into learning how to better myself and do the job I was meant to be doing. In 2007 I worked right through the Christmas period and held up the fort at the office while many others were away on holiday. And this is when 12 months ago I really started to make some good. In January 2008 I was Top Seller for the office, March I was top Lister for the office, In May was top Seller again, In August and October I was the in the top 50 Real Estate Agents for Harcourts in the Wellington Region, And in September was again top seller for the New Plymouth Office.
This was done by just hard work and dedication to what I do. There are a number of things I strongly believe in that I will share at a later date.
Today is the day that I leave all that behind and move on to other things. Tomorrow I will land in Christchurch officially and start the set up process again. The hard work begins now. Actually it started last week with the packing. I have just been chatting to some people from twitter asking them what they hate the most about moving and there are two very clear winners.
1st has to be the actual packing up part. For my own situation, I just cannot believe how much stuff I accumulated over the time. The other day I was going through the wardrobe and there are things in there that I had forgotten I had even had. I am one of these people that find it hard to part with things… what do you call that.. hoarders. Well in my defence I am a Kiwi and I think that a good part of our population is just the same. I think the salvation army will be happy with all the things I have given them, especially this close to Christmas.
The second thing that people find the worst about packing was the unpacking. Putting things away, finding new homes for all the items you just packed away. All those boxes all over the place, probably sleeping on the floor for the first couple of days, having none of your electronic gear set up…. Man it’s frustrating just thinking about it. Grr!! Moving is stressful, especially when you are moving into the unknown. I have some great ideas though…
Well to all my past clients, friends, followers and anyone who finds this blog from New Plymouth, please stay in touch I will be back from time to time and if you need any help or assistance at any time just ask. For the people of Christchurch, I hope to meet some of you some day, maybe help in some way. If your looking for a house to buy or have to sell one call me and I will have a chat to you about it. I look forward to the challenges that are going to pop up starting from tomorrow. Moving, as frustrating as it may be should be positive, but I cant seem to feel any of those positives right now (as I sift though boxes looking for my phone)……
December 07 2008 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
One event coming up soon in Christchurch, which is one that cannot be missed is the World Buskers Festival. The 2009 Eureka Trust World Buskers Festival has a range of awesome performers such as circus, street and comedians People come all over from as far away as Argentina, Israel, the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia and New Zealand to both watch, participate and perform.
This is what one of the Press Releases I have read say about it:
“From jugglers and contortionists to unicycles, clowns, musicians, aerialists, living statues, sideshow artists and acrobatics, the 2009 Eureka Trust WORLD BUSKERS FESTIVAL presents the ‘real deal’ when it comes to street theatre. Be it Canadian acrobatic duo LES VITAMINES; the RUSSIAN BAR TRIO; podiatric sandwich maker ROB WILLIAMS; funny freak SAM WILLS; clowns FRASER HOOPER and clown LOTO; NINO RETRETE; Australia’s MR FISH; SPACE COWBOY; DAREDEVIL CHICKEN CLUB; REUBEN DOTDOTDOT; pint sized contortionist BENDY EM; the world’s smallest banjo circus orchestra CLOGHOPPERS; stuntman extraordinaire SLACKWIRE SAM; Guinness World Record Holder YO YO GUY; Israeli aerialists CIRQUE NO PROBLEM; vaudevillians THE PITTS; SWANK; RUBBERBAND BOY; MULLETMAN; New Zealand’s FUSE Circus; CANDY D’LITE; MR BIRDBRAIN; OLLI, DOLLY & LIGHTENING LOU; magnificent acrobatic talent HEIR OF INSANITY; THE GARGOYLE; roving operatic duo THE PRIVY COUNCIL; Canadian improviser extraordinaire DEREK FLORES; aerialists SKYE BROBERG and JULIE LAVERGNE and MISS SATURN’S HULA HOOP FEDERATION from the USA – the 2009 WBF is absolutely jam-packed with ten days and eleven nights of fun, frivolity, non-stop fun and rather groovy moves from our festival dance
rs.”
This year the festival will be held from Thursday 22nd January 2009 to Sunday 1st February 2009 and held in Victoria Square. There are also going to be daily street shows in Cathedral Square, Botanic Gardens and some around some of the Malls in the city.
The Eureka Trust World Buskers Festival is one of the largest and best festivals of its type in the world. Each year the festival brings an atmosphere of fun and excitement to the city. Last year was my first festival and it was just a great event. One of the things that I truly enjoyed was how full and vibrant energy the city had while the festival was on. The influx of people was amazing and Christchurch was buzzing. If you’re in and around Christchurch from January 22nd to February 1st be sure to stop in and have a look at some of the events.
To view the Official Buskers Festival Website Click Here
December 06 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
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 world are presently visible in Street View, which first launched in the United States in May 2007.
It’s not just about the cities though, street view can take a virtual drive along Scenic Drive to almost any remote location in New Zealand. Tourism New Zealand has selected a gallery of Street View images, available at maps.google.co.nz/streetview that showcase some of New Zealand’s best tourist attractions and locations to the world. Many other organisations have already identified significant opportunities for Street View to be used in travel, tourism, house buying and renting, education, and helping make small businesses easier to find. So hopefully this may bring back some of the tourism to New Zealand.
What can you use Google Street View for? well to get directions, companies are integrating it with their websites, enthusiasts use it to create personalised maps related to their areas of interest, check out the house in the city you want to go too. See what your best friends street looks like. Let your family and friends see what the street looks like where you are living. There are just so many options.
Google has gone to great lengths to safeguard privacy while allowing all New Zealanders to benefit from this feature. Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads, and blurs identifiable faces. Anyone can easily flag for removal images that they consider inappropriate by clicking on “Report a concern” at the bottom of the Street View image in question.
The Street View imagery was collected by camera-equipped cars that drove public roads in New Zealand over the past 12 months. If you notice the picture below you can see the Christmas tree still in the square from almost 12 months ago.
In the picture above I checked out my house and then took a screen shot as I went past the office and in the picture below I have been checking my new home out and the surrounding areas and decided to take a screen shot of one of the main monuments in Christchurch. As I just said I have been an early adopter of this application in New Zealand and have been actively looking around the streets of some of the houses I am interested in buying in Christchurch. Even though I am still in New Plymouth for a number of weeks more I can easily see without ringing and asking the agents what the neighbourhood is like. This is awesome and truely something that home buyers are going to find fantastic when looking at property in locations they aren’t sure of.
In Real Estate Street View offers a very interesting and new dynamic to the mix. Now there one can look at a property online with the photos and then go to Street View and look how it is placed amongst the rest of the neighbourhood. You can now check out the street before you go to the open home, this might save you time and gay money. Trademe being their innovative self have already placed Google maps into their tourism and property sectors so that now when you look at property on Trademe you can simply click a button that will let you look at the street as well. How cool is that. And also Realestate.co.nz have added streetview to their listings so that the general public can again look at the street they are interested in possibly living on.
I hope you enjoy Street View as much as I have this morning. It’s been great checking out all the places I used to live which has bought some great memories back. It is amazing the length Google are going to become the world’s best online place to go. What next…
Leave a comment and tell me what your views are on Google Street View
December 02 2008 | Buyers and Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
A million substandard homes are each up for a $22,000 bill to meet recommendations from a new national housing performance report.
This report goes hand in hand with the New Zealand Houses series I have been writing about and this is one of the major things factors about the older New Zealand House. Houses built before the 1970’s transitional period weren’t fitted with insulation when they were built.
The survey found one in four Kiwis say the poor quality of their home has made someone living in them sick, and indicated the severe cost of poorly performing homes. The survey of 3526 New Zealanders, conducted in October and November, is the culmination of a two-year $300,000 research project by the Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Council chief executive Peter Neilson said the country was paying $54 million to admit to hospital 50 people a day with respiratory illnesses, losing 180,000 worker days to illness, and spending $475 million a year more than it needed to on household power bills. Proposing a mandatory rating system to apply to all homes when they were sold or rented, the report estimates the cost of bringing homes up to minimum health and efficiency standards would be $20 million over a decade, or roughly $22,000 a household.
Two-thirds of New Zealand’s 1.6 million homes were built between 1900 and the 1970s, before insulation became mandatory in 1979, Mr Neilson said. Registered Master Builders Federation chief executive Warwick Quinn said the report wrapped up a widespread issue, but solutions were fragmented across disparate pockets of the community and industry and had little government support. “Having a consolidated approach would be very helpful,” he said.
Most homes built before 1979 would not meet current building code regulations, he said. “The [suggested] efficiency rating would help bring that to the surface.”
While there were 80,000 homes renovated every year, Mr Neilson said the odds were stacked against New Zealanders doing up their homes for their own good because the benefits were largely unknown.”Most people assume the cost is much more than it is and the benefits are much less,” he said.
The survey showed 69 per cent of people thought they could not afford to upgrade their home and half said they were too uninformed to do it. Mr Neilson said the residential real estate market did not v
alue “invisible” improvements like insulation and water efficiency, so house owners’ priorities lay with marketable benefits such as decorating, improving fixtures or adding a deck.
The estimated average $22,000 bill to make a home energy-efficient and warm was realistic, and might become more palatable if householders could see the long-term benefits as energy prices rose.
“There is a limited number of householders who are driven by eco-thoughts – pricing issues are a major motivator.”
The report was admirable but ignored the need to improve home-heating solutions to battle dampness, a greater health threat than cold, she said. Research showed the worst places for ill health caused by living conditions coincided with poor local populations who avoided using
electric heating because of the cost.
Source: Scoop.co.nz Stuff.co.nz
I believe this is a major issue that has now been bought up in a timely time. At a time when people pockets are being crimped this news from this survey is a real nail in the side. If you do own an older home in New Zealand look into putting insulation into your home or a DVS system or anything else instead of major flash renovations.
December 02 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
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 and enable a satisfactory Real Estate Transaction.
Contracts can be written up subject to various conditions so that the purchaser or seller can satisfy their own needs. An example of the more common ones are:
- Subject to Finance. This allows the buyer time to confirm or arrange their finance from the banks or any other lending company. Generally this condition isn’t more than a week, but in any case has to have an end date for satisfaction, upon this date been reached you can apply to have an extension through your Solicitor.
- Subject to the sale of another property. This condition also needs to have a time limit on it. Generally this is negotiated between the parties. This will give the person buying the property to have enough time to sell their own house in order to buy. This condition is usually followed by an escape clause. This allows the seller to continue marketing their property and being able to accept another offer that is better to the seller( this can be a lower price, it doesn’t matter). This is then called a cashing out contract. The original contract then has the agreed on working days to go unconditional. If they do not then their contract is void and the cashing out contract is executed and closed.
- Subject to a report of the building or land or a LIM. This gives the purchaser to do any homework on the property once a price has been agreed to. This could include a builder, a plumber, an electrisation or any other thing that the purchaser wants to do their homework on. But things you want to be investigated must be stated on the contract before it is accepted.
Once all conditions are met the contract becomes Unconditional and binding on both parties. This means the sale must settle as detailed in the contract. The payment of any deposit mentioned is payable upon this time. If you buy through a real estate agency the deposit is usually held in a trust account for 10 working days.
You can bypass the conditions part and put what we call a cash unconditional contract in to the seller. This means that you are happy with the house at the time of putting a contract in and if the seller accepts the price you submit will be one you buy the property at. being unconditional you will then pay the deposit and settle on the date in the contract. Unlike many parts of the world you do not need to get surveys etc on every property. In New Zealand a property can’t be sold without a title and its generally the duty of the seller to get everything in order.
The day of settlement is the day when the balance of the payment is made, this being the total purchase price minus the deposit which was payed at the unconditional date. The money is usually transferred via the solicitor. This is the day you pick up your keys to the property and take over the legal rights to the property. You can move in this day 
A solicitor is a lawyer. When you deal with them in terms of a property sale they look after the legal aspects of the sale like transfer of money, transfer of title and things like that. Basically when the contracts are agreed on, sent to the solicitor, and becomes unconditional the job of the real estate agent is all but complete. A good agent should keep in touch with both parties, bring them together, and make sure that a smooth transition of settlement takes place.
The fees associated with buying a property in New Zealand are very minimal. The only fees that you need to pay are the solicitors fees for buying, which can be anywhere between $500 – $1000. But could be more or less depending on the area your buying. Also if you want to have any inspections done or a LIM report done you will also need to pay for those. Costs on these are minimal though. So really for buying residential property in New Zealand what you put on the contract is what you pay.
There is other things associated with buying property in New Zealand. Other ways of buying such as tender and auction are available but the principle is the same. For more questions or to find out more call or email an agent. They will be able to assist you with your questions. Remember that to have the agent sell you a house as a buyer it’s not costing you anything, and you get their knowledge and support the whole way through.
December 01 2008 | Buyers and Sellers | 19 Comments »
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