Real Estate & Property Investment News in New Zealand from Propertyshowrooms.com

Property prices - key price segments showing activity

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Real Estate Institute (REINZ) has been providing sales data on a monthly basis by price band for over 5 years now and this segmentation is helpful to see where there is activity within the overall market. The chart below shows on a quarterly basis the proportion of all sales by price band in 4 categories...

Economists forecast longer NZ recession

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

NZ has slashed the official cash rate but economists predict the recession will bite for a lot longer than first expected...

Mortgage rates the lowest for five years

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Banks are cutting their mortgage rates to the lowest levels in five years in response to the Reserve Bank's official cash rate review tomorrow - and property investors will be making the most of it. TSB Bank dropped its 12-month...

Website gives details of all properties for house-hunters

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A property-searching website to start operating tomorrow aims to become the first stop for house-hunters. Zoodle will give information on more than 1.5 million homes and 1600 suburbs and communities. Alistair Helm of realestate.co.nz....

Park-buyers race to beat developers

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Nearly $60 million has been spent in an expansive phase for the Auckland regional parks network, and a falling property market means the ARC cheque book will be kept handy. The regional council is racing against time to preserve...

Life goes on attitude will lift property sales in New Zealand in 2009

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Property sales in New Zealand will pick up in 2009 after the worst 12 months for 20 years because life has to go on, it is claimed...

Average household net worth plummets again

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A new report shows the net worth of the average New Zealand household fell by $14,500 in the September quarter. It followed a decline of $17,000 the previous quarter. Spicers' Household Savings Indicators report says the average...

Mega-auction fights slump

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

One of the country's biggest event centres will today host a bulk real estate auction as house sellers fight the depressed property market. In a trend that follows mass house selloffs in giant arenas and stadiums in the United...

Boom and bust property sector in New Zealand facing huge job losses

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Jobs in property and finance, construction, retail and the 118,000 businesses serving the tourism sector are likely big losers as the recession continues to bite next year in New Zealand...

Tax cuts and pay rises make homes more affordable in Oct

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Tax cuts, strong wage growth and lower interest rates have combined to improve housing affordability to its best level since May 2006, says new research. The Wizard Home Loans Affordability report for October has been affected...

Qantas takes axe to NZ routes

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Qantas is taking the axe to its domestic service in New Zealand in the wake of falling passenger numbers. But Air New Zealand is holding fire, citing good business on its main trunk routes. Document...

National broom to sweep into housing

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The new Government appears likely to keep real estate agent laws introduced by the previous regime but is aiming to make big changes to other property rules. Help for people with leaking homes and streamlining building consent...

Downturn yields good news on housing

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The housing downturn is making homes more affordable, says Massey University. Home affordability has now improved for three consecutive quarters, says Professor Bob Hargreaves, who heads the real estate analysis unit. "The housing...

Housing collapse threat to contractors

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The failure of the $450 million Kensington Park at Orewa will drag many other businesses down with it, and other similar developments will likely follow. Subcontractors on the 750-house development are owed hundreds of thousands...

Love affair with property over, says Lombard

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In anticipation of a grilling from shareholders at its annual meeting, Lombard Group yesterday said the hard truth was that "New Zealanders have fallen out of love with property". The group's subsidiary Lombard Finance was put...

Rich-listers' house values slump in NZ

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A new website has opened the books on New Zealand's house values, revealing the specific losses of its rich and famous...

NZ homes defy downturn

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

New Zealand house prices are still holding up better than most of the rest of the world's and we are ranked eighth out of 20 countries for our annual residential price increase. Britain's Economist magazine used figures from...

Auckland prices hold but sales slow - report

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Auckland real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson says house prices held up during August, despite a continued slump in sales volumes. The company sold 502 properties last month, low when compared to a monthly average of 900 during...

Rural Equities enjoys boom

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Soaring rural property values have lifted profit at Sir Selwyn Cushing's Rural Equities more than 10-fold. Record net profit at the rural property investment and management company for the year ending June 30 was $32.4 million,...

Developer says it's a victim too

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A property developer in dispute with Blue Chip investors says it's been as much a victim of the scheme's collapse as anyone. Greenstone Group says it will lose "significantly more" than other investors in Blue Chip. Interests...

Downturn in property market means strategies needed to sell

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

With the downturn in the property market, more homeowners are finding traditional sales methods are not working for them. This is a serious problem for those with little or no equity in their property and who could face financial...

Calls to ban foreign property ownership in NZ

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Green party in New Zealand is calling on the government to ban foreign property investors from buying property and real estate in the country as the increasing numbers of overseas buyers are buying property at the expense of first time buyers who are finding it increasingly difficult to find an affordable property. “We believe land...

NZ targets UK tourists

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The NZ tourist board’s biggest ever UK advertising campaign aims to attract more travellers to the country in the face of tough competition...

ING reassures investors over discounted unit price

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ING Property Trust had a swipe at property market pessimists yesterday, saying its portfolio is diversified and rents are rising. ING told unitholders at the annual meeting that its unit price had been inappropriately discounted...

Overseas buyers home in

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

International buyers are snatching up New Zealand property as the dollar drops, banks lower interest rates and the market reaches realistic prices. Alistair Helm of realestate.co.nz says the surge is encouraging for sellers and...

Slump hits loans staff

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Bank of New Zealand is proposing to make more than half its mobile mortgage managers redundant in the face of the continuing property slump. A source told the Herald on Sunday bank bosses were proposing to cut the team from...

Good time to buy a house, people tell housing survey

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

More people think house prices will keep falling - yet a growing number also think it's a good time to buy one, according to a new housing confidence survey. The ASB bank's Housing Confidence survey for the three months ending...

NZ High Rise in Sales Trouble?

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sentinel, is New Zealand’s tallest and newest NZ$137 million luxury high-rise, and there could be some good deals on re-sales for the smart investor...

NZ sanctuary wins national tourism award

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Karori Sanctuary, one of New Zealand's leading conservation tourism attractions, has won a prestigious conservation tourism award...

Council buys apartments

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Christchurch City Council has paid $17 million to buy five central city properties from struggling developer Dave Henderson. Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the purchase was a strategic move to protect the city centre from...

Collapsing values hit home

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The housing crash is plunging more homeowners into negative equity, with their mortgage debt exceeding the value of their property. Falling values mean New Zealanders who bought property from mid-2006 to the end of last year will...

How investors got sucked in

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Nervous investors considering buying a property through Blue Chip were given a series of well-rehearsed answers if they expressed concerns. Paul Dale and Daniel Grove, barristers acting for more than 300 investors, have obtained...

Kiwi wage increase

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Average salaries in New Zealand have increased substantially, according to new analysis...

Property drought worsens during the wet months

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

There aren't enough homes on the market to satisfy cashed up buyers, says one of the big Auckland real estate firms. A "drought of properties" had been caused by cautious vendors adopting a "wait and see" attitude through the...

Product has stake in top properties

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The AMP fund which suspended payments yesterday owns a big stake in some of the best New Zealand investment properties. Murray Gribben, managing director of AMP Capital NZ, said 75 per cent of the assets in the frozen AMP Capital...

Winsun developer declared bankrupt

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Property developer Lily Zhong has been judged bankrupt and owes at least $6 million. The adjudication for bankruptcy was made in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, following an order gained by architectural firm Sang Architects...

Investor calls for answers on $240m

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A St Laurence investor has challenged the company over its property loans, asking why it didn't halt lending earlier than it did. Kevin Podmore, St Laurence managing director, posted comments about the poor state of the credit...

Property trust forced to scrap fee plan

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Opposition from the wealthy Cushing family helped defeat plans by The National Property Trust to change its fee structure at a large investor meeting in Auckland yesterday. The meeting was marked by terse exchanges between various...

New Zealand developers being hit hard by credit crunch

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The global property slowdown is biting hard in New Zealand where developers are putting projects on hold, spending cash reserves and even going into receivership...

Should you buy or rent a house right now?

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Buying a house is now almost two and a half times as expensive as renting, according to Property Investors Federation vice-president Andrew King. King says a 25-year mortgage for 90 per cent of the cost of the country's median-priced...

New Zealand rental market confidence slowing

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Confidence in the rental property market in New Zealand is at its lowest point for four years despite rents rising, according to a new report...

Tradesmen out of pocket after Merlot liquidation

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A tradesman says he is owed $100,000 by troubled property investment group Merlot. On Friday, Merlot Homes Ltd, the development arm of Merlot Property Investments, was placed in liquidation by its creditors. Merlot has about...

Five Mile liquidation hearing adjourned

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A liquidation hearing for the Five Mile Holdings company of high-profile property developer Dave Henderson was adjourned for a week in the High Court in Christchurch today. Earlier this month Hanover Finance said it had instructed...

Blue Chip parking lot heads for mortgagee sale

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A central Auckland Blue Chip property is going to mortgagee sale. However, the whereabouts of $11 million in deposits investors put down on apartments that were to be built on the site remains unknown. The Emily, as it was called,...

Capital + Merchant receivers slash estimated investor return

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Receivers for finance company Capital+Merchant Finance have slashed the amount they estimate is recoverable for investors to 8c in the dollar. C+M Finance, along with subsidiary Capital+Merchant Investments, was placed in receivership...

Record rise in NZ home affordability - new report

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Falling house prices, coupled with lower interest rates have driven the biggest improvement in home affordability in the past six years. The Wizard Home Loans Affordability report was released today, showing June's improvement...

Court action over apartment development deals

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A company owned by Auckland apartment developer David Henderson before it folded has been at the centre of an action in the High Court at Auckland this week. Bernie Montgomerie, liquidator for Precinct Apartments, said this week's...

New Zealand House Sales Drop: Will Interest Rates Follow?

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

There appears to be mounting evidence that New Zealand’s current interest rate cycle has hit its top: which will be a relief to those paying nearly 11% on their mortgages...

Property values continue to slide

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The residential property market continued to slow in June, and values declined in many areas despite a tiny increase in the average sale price, the valuation firm QV says. National property values rose 0.1 per cent in the June...

Property keeps falling - June prices down 2pc

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The winter housing slump is showing no sign of abating, with median prices falling by 2.15 per cent in June - from $345,000 in May to $340,000 accordng to official numbers released today by the Real Estate Institute. This latest...