Assessing options

Our Experts Answer:

Personally, I would look at either Wellington or Hamilton as a place to buy in. Wellington still has some growth left and Hamilton has good long term prospects with close proximity to Auckland.

You have more chance of getting a discount with an existing house over a new build as the majority of these tend to be sold at retail or close to it. However, there is also likely to be more maintenance so it depends if you are okay with more work or just want to buy and forget to an extent about it.

With stand-alone houses there may be more options of modifying the property over a unit and often you are likely to get more of a land component. However, it does depend on what your financial goals are as both can be good investments.