Tony White’s View on the Housing Market

Recent weeks have seen confidence return to the national market as a more certain economy, job security, low interest rates and delayed housing decisions from 2010, come together and make an autumn market that has bounced along with good sales at all levels. Milford office has seen strong sales in the East Coast Bays and Milford areas from $700000 through to $4,000,000 giving us all more confidence for the rest of the year.

Couple this with an increase in rural sales around the country in April and we can see that this confidence is well spread. When farmers spread their wings, when investors start looking at rural land again we can see the benefit of higher commodity prices impacting on demand and confidence. New Zealand seems well placed right now.

This augurs well for the residential market too, as demand is often driven by “confidence”.

Recently I have had Auckland friends telling me that Christchurch has “had it”, and the city will never recover. I know Christchurch well. This is a proud and beautiful city about to become more beautiful than ever. And recent real estate sales bear testament. Activity in the Christchurch market jumped to 315 in April, compared to 193 in March. Usually you would expect about 500 sales in a month in Christchurch so you can see the impact of the earthquakes, but this is a good sign. The return to normal sales levels there is still some time away because of the damage. But it is great to see home buyers having confidence to invest and rebuild their futures in Christchurch.

It will be interesting to watch activity through May-August and hope that activity remains close to the national 5000 a month level as that will confirm that confidence is back and then we can look for a much stronger market in Spring.

I am always here to help. If you or anyone you know would like any advice or assistance with real estate matters, please give me a call on 0800 61 8888.