Buyers getting creative: Harcourts
Thursday 22 May 2014
First-home buyers are using creative lending solutions to get into the market, Harcourts says.
By The Landlord
The real estate agency reported that its northern region’s average sale price had reached $697,392, up 10% on the same time last year.
It said its agents in the northern region were dealing with people who wanted to get on to the property ladder sooner rather than later, and were finding ways to do it despite the loan-to-value restrictions.
In Harcourts’ central region, stock levels arte down 7.5% and average prices have crept up to $337,283.
Wellington’s property on hand, new listings and written sales were all down on the same time a year earlier, Harcourts said. But the average price in the capital was up 6%, to $393,361.
Harcourts said Christchurch had experienced a drop in the number of listings but an increase in written sales. The average sales price is now $476,695.
The agency said that was not a big movement on the same time the year before, but that April 2013 had been a record month.
For the rest of the South Island, listings, sales and average prices were down. Harcourts said it was a sign of loan-to-value restrictions having an effect in areas where they were not needed.
Chief executive Hayden Duncan said he welcomed Reserve Bank indications that the LVR restrictions could be lifted by the end of the year.
He said Auckland and Christchurch’s rising prices were a direct result of high demand and low supply. “This means the restrictions have had little effect on overall prices. Instead they have made it temporarily more difficult for first-home buyers to break into the property market.”
He said: “As our population increases, LVR restrictions will become increasingly ineffectual in Auckland. In Christchurch the rebuild is a long way from catching up with demand for housing. The restrictions have only ever been intended as a temporary measure, and I would applaud moves by the Reserve Bank to end them.”
Comments from our readers
No comments yet
Sign In / Register to add your comment
Property News
First home buyers pace setters: CoreLogic
First home buyers accounted for nearly one in four residential property buyers in the September quarter, rivalling investors, according to new research.
House Prices
Capital price gains
Looking for capital gains? Best look to Wellington as the latest Trade Me Property data reveals ongoing strong price growth.
Commercial
Lower vacancy rates in “green” buildings
Commercial landlords take note – “green” office buildings have clear occupancy benefits as well as being cheaper to run, a new report has found.
Mortgages
LVR easing talk grows
Investors might soon get a break if the Reserve Bank relaxes the LVR restrictions in its next Financial Stability Report as some economists are suggesting it will.
