The Worm Has Turned

andrea z @ flickr

Wasn’t it interesting that a week or so ago both the Prime Minister, Mr John Key and the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Mr Alan Bollard independently stated that they thought the worst of the recession was over. Perhaps we have had the major earthquake, and may yet still experience some after shocks. Staggering when months ago they were talking Armageddon and Great Depression.

Confidence has been evident in our real estate market for quite some time. We are noticing people coming back to the market in all areas. Investors are back buying investment property. fist home buyers have been back for a while.

Recently I attend the auction of a 1200m2 development site in Quebec Road in Milford. It sold for $803,000with very competitive bidding. This is an outstanding result and shows confidence in future demand and higher prices for homes. Auckland needs 21,000 new houses every year, yet over the last two years there have been few building permits issued, little subdivision and many builders have hung up their tools. Soon there will be demand for new homes and long lead times to build them. At Harcourts we are noticing a significant rise in section sales, see our CEO’s report here as builders prepare to start building again.

Immigration is on the rise, a huge number of Kiwis have been repatriating so very soon we will have a lack of housing stock. This is further pressure on the market and another reason for the fence sitting buyers to take action.

With lower prices, lower interest rates and an easing of banks terms and conditions there are many reasons to buy right now. It’s almost like a perfect storm, so what do you want to do? Buy or sell? Watch from the sidelines or get involved? Call me right away on Freephone 0800 61 88 88!