One of the hot questions we’re getting asked at the moment is “do you think it’s a good time to buy???”
It’s no secret that the property market in New Zealand has seen a heap of changes over 2021/2022. There has been a real “cooling off” of the property purchasing frenzy that we’ve experienced over the last year or two, and this has been a nice little gift for the media to make a story or two out of. Sure house prices have dropped and properties are taking longer to sell, however when we look at the bigger picture you can see that we are currently in a much more traditional kiwi housing market. We’ve become accustomed to this environment where a house comes to market on Wednesday and by the time the open home rolls around on the weekend there are already offers on the table and you’re told that you need to basically put your best offer on the Sale & Purchase Agreement and hope it’s enough to beat the competition. It was scary stuff for a LOT of people and made for some heart wrenching stories of people missing out on multiple homes.
What we’re seeing at the moment is a real opportunity for those that are ready to get onto or make their next move on the property ladder. When I said earlier that we are currently in a much more traditional kiwi housing market, I meant that people now have the time to look around a prospective property at the open home on the weekend, chat it over with friends or family and if it’s the right place and ticks all the boxes, make an offer on Monday or Tuesday, much like you would’ve 4-5 years ago. It’s a much more calculated process that people are getting to follow as opposed to the shotgun purchases of 12-18 months ago because you couldn’t afford to miss out on a property. The other aspect that we are seeing to this market is our clients are now getting the opportunity to negotiate on their purchase and some with some really, really good results which has put a lot of power in the purchasers hands. Bare in mind the old adage of the early bird getting the worm which rings true with purchasing property so if you can go through the process as smooth and quickly as possible it will generally work for you more than if you take your time and wait for the stars to align.
So to come back to the question at the beginning of the article “do you think it’s a good time to buy???” our answer to most people would generally be yes! And for a few reasons that I’ll spell out below:
- Power to the people: Purchasers have a lot of power at the moment – Vendors are motivated to sell and things are taking a little longer so they are more willing to give your offer consideration. You may think that you can’t offer enough or that your conditions might put you on the back foot, but we are now seeing lots of deals being accepted that can be quite surprising – It’s a good time to try your luck.
- We’re nearing the bottom of the trough: House prices may have reached the point where most economists have predicted they will drop to, between 10-15%. We are approaching around a 15% drop in house prices since the peak in November 2021. If the economists have it right then we could see house prices level out and then start to grow again over the near future – it could be a good time a get in and grow some equity.
- Interest rates easing: Interest rates have been pushed up and up during 2021, and we are starting to see the required effects of this. As a result, some interest rates have started to ease and level off. Again it could be a good time to get the right structure in place to time in well with forecast interest rates tracking – Getting this right can really set you up for the long term.
- Are we about to take off again?: If the 3 points above all end up working in purchasers favor over the near future, then it’s worth thinking about whether we are going to see the market take off again in a flurry of activity. This is something that we are seeing get more and more likely each week with the things that are changing – It could just be that now is a great time to buy.
Obviously there’s no knowing what’s around the corner but if the market picks back up again, then that could make now a great time to buy in hindsight, so that begs the question “Are you ready?”
That’s something that we can help you answer, so get in touch with one of our advisors and be ready to jump on that new property purchase!

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