NZ 1st homebuyers are ScReWeD...

[George]

Took advantage of a flyer left in our box about 'whatpriceyrhome.com'
and an agent came round and told us she would ask 349k compared
to a cv of 315k. It's only a 2 bed bungalow with views, sunny aspect,
close to Henderson town, transport, schools etc and has been
redecorated and made nice. She even sent a card stating that
price in writing but we are nowhere ready to sell yet.
Even if that price is just a teaser to get us interested it
shows that some properties have at least held value.
George

[wns]

If you get a cracker of a deal, who really cares about averages and what interest rates might do next month, those are just excuses not to buy.

For those who want to buy their first house...

How many houses have you looked at?
How well do you know market value in the area(s) you're looking to buy in?
How many offers have you made?
Do you have a budget for your living expenses?
Have you spoken to mortgage brokers and / or lenders to find out your borrowing capacity?

[Dr_Who]

You are on to it wns.

It separate the dreamers from the doers.

[The GrandMaster]

...and the astute from the sheep

[Financially dependant]

As an ex-Queenstown'er I have an affinity with the place plus an interest. It was one of the first places in NZ to start the property bull run! Vertical limit production crew took just 25 houses off the rental market to start it all off!

The news that Kawerau falls went into receivership sent a shiver done my spine, if they finish the current stage of development (best case) there will be 500 tradesman looking for work. Ngi Tahu's post office project will finish about the same time as will the Mountaineer redevelopment and downtown carpark building (large backpackers). That could double the the tradesman looking for work in a years time!

IMHO there will be a large number of properties for sale and rentals hit the market in the same, this is the next leg down for Queenstown. Queenstown has a history of down turn after big projects finish, this maybe a bit of a perfect storm.

Queenstown loss may be other cities gain!!

[fungus pudding]

As an ex-Queenstown'er I have an affinity with the place plus an interest. It was one of the first places in NZ to start the property bull run! Vertical limit production crew took just 25 houses off the rental market to start it all off!

The news that Kawerau falls went into receivership sent a shiver done my spine, if they finish the current stage of development (best case) there will be 500 tradesman looking for work. Ngi Tahu's post office project will finish about the same time as will the Mountaineer redevelopment and downtown carpark building (large backpackers). That could double the the tradesman looking for work in a years time!

IMHO there will be a large number of properties for sale and rentals hit the market in the same, this is the next leg down for Queenstown. Queenstown has a history of down turn after big projects finish, this maybe a bit of a perfect storm.
Queenstown loss may be other cities gain!!

Queenstown has always been speculator driven. Quite a different thing than a market driven by owner occupiers, or even investors. Like prime resort areas worldwide, they tend to behave more like the share market than the property market, in as much as the buyers all rush in at the sign of rising prices, totally overlooking returns, then all want out on the same day.

[George]

For the property market to crash in NZ (which is really really really unlikely)

We're going to need loads of economic shocks e.g.

Some massive shock to the diary industry.
Negative migration.
Rising unemployment.
More and more people moving overseas.
Tax breaks removed.
Can't see any of this happening.

This post was over a year ago and it appears 3 of the 5 events
have occurred, with immigration and more
people coming home the only positives.
Is this negative for property or not, the
news seems positive for property at the moment, esp in Auckland.
George

[foxysfolkfaced23]

i've taken the plunge and used the welcome home loan scheme to buy our first home, i don't think the welcome home loan scheme will be around forever - doesn't exactly seem like national's cup of tea so i'm picking it will be gone soon, maybe next term....

anyway my situation is that we had $50k in savings (built up from savings, shares, and tab winnings) which i squandered in the sharemarket from february 08' to march 09' is a series of disasterous picks and trades which i wont go into - anyway long story short $50k turned to $5k in just over a year

at february 08' house prices were high and rates were too high that the bank would not lend us enough to buy a modest home even considering we had $50k cash (based on my income alone - my wife was preganant and not going back to work) so naturally me and wife were pretty devastated that our potential house had gone down the gurgler.....however during this time of course interest rates have come down as have house prices and the supply of modest units in christchurch has increased (it seems) - at the start of 08' we couldn't find anything for less than $230k-$240k - except linwood etc.

anyway 2 months ago i looked at the sums and whatdoyaknow we can afford a home......so we bought a modest 2 bedroom unit in the north of christchurch for $215k

our unit is 1 of 2 facing north with both houses the street with their own driveways. unit next to ours was on the market and has been done up and had offers of $250k and $259k which the vendor turned down and then pulled it off the market- so we know given some improvements we can add a lot of value - although we are planning to be there 10 years or so.

i am going to fix $180k for 3 years at 6.85% and cream the other $30k on revolving which we plan to pay off in 3 years - meaning in 3 years time we will have a mortgage of approximately $174k

point of this is that first homebuyers were screwed - but now not so - as long as you dont stretch yourself - and make sure you can afford repayments even if rates double from here - which they could...........

[The Great Gold Guru]

$50k to $5k in a year ... don't EVER EVER put money in the stockmarket again !! ( I made 24.9% in Calendar 2008 ... how did you lose 90% ??? ) You seem to have bought well , well done.

[The Great Gold Guru]

PS ... Why not put your $30k Revolving Credit on a 1Yr fixed rate mortgage at 5.50% ... I bet you are paying more than that for your Rev Cr ... pay it off hard for the 1Yr period and then either re-fix for another 12mths or then put balance on Rev Cr ... you can't lose and no temptation to put a new flat screen TV on the mortgage via the Rev Cr !!!