Owning houses is so over-rated in NZ. It's ingrained in the culture and bugger the financial consequences. It's like you're a second class citizen if you don't own a house. Why not take advantage of this 'own it at all costs' culture and sell your cultural rites to some other fools. Property was a good investment a few years ago but now, it is just plain stupid in most areas. You get to look after a pack of slobs, risk your capital all for the eqivalent ( or less ) return available from the friendly government. This is surely a bubble when the returns in property are less than government bonds AND interest rates are going up. I noticed the fixed rates have gone up now also. This is the final stages of the boom, head for cover & don't even think about buying for the next year.