Everyone knows the law of demand and supply. Beyond a certain point, more demand for something means the price of that something goes up. Similarly, more supply means price goes down once you get past a critical point. It’s not rocket … Read more
August 28, 2019 By
Owning a home in NZ just got easier – or did it?
Falling interest rates have been the big mortgage and property story for 2019. Everyone wound themselves into a froth earlier this month when the RBNZ reduced the OCR. And while the banks didn’t follow suit immediately, manna from heaven was … Read more
August 21, 2019 By
A-M-L-C-F-T: Find out what it means to me
Talk to anyone involved with property transactions and they’ll almost always start moaning about the AML/CFT obligations. The what?! Lay off the acronyms, Cam! The Anti-money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism … Read more
July 25, 2019 By
House prices & interest rates down, but getting a mortgage still a challenge
According to interest.co.nz the sale price for Auckland property in the lowest price bracket has fallen from $680,000 to $670,500 and has stayed there for three months straight. Cue, first home buyers getting excited... No, it’s not a huge drop … Read more
July 12, 2019 By
What happens when interest rates bottom out?
Plenty of talk recently about interest rates falling further. I reckon the talk is right. But how low will they go? Will mortgage rates go under 3%? I see rates wobbling down around 3 to 3.5% and that’s about it. The slide will … Read more
May 15, 2019 By
What have interest rates got to do with the price of broccoli?
With the RBNZ announcing (last week, May 8th) that they’re lowering the Official Cash Rate to 1.5%, it’s a fact that borrowed money has never been cheaper in New Zealand. I can hear you rejoicing. And why not? It means your existing mortgage … Read more
November 29, 2018 By
First Home Buyers: Get your ducks in a row
Like most of you, I get a few emails dropping in my inbox daily. Generally it's generic questions about buying a property or Nigerian scams requesting my bank account number. But this one was different. Why? Well, I could hear the desperation in … Read more
November 28, 2018 By
First Home Buyers: Why all the backlash over buying brand new?!
It’s so easy to sit there in judgement of banks and first home buyers and Kiwibuild and investment property and gauging the impact of debt levels on society… and getting all wound up in that stuff. And it’s a fact that the comment section … Read more
November 22, 2018 By
The issue of consent: Always a deal breaker
Eighteen months ago, I wrote a post which talked about the problem of houses with unconsented works. You can re-read it here if you like. To be blunt: The problem hasn’t gone away. If anything, it’s worse now than what it was then, so I feel the … Read more
August 21, 2018 By
Will it get easier to buy your first house?
The question of whether it’ll get easier to buy your first house is one that I’m asking myself after a recent email from a client. In it, they said that they wanted to wait another 12 months before they bought a house. They reckon it’ll get … Read more
