Sales remain strong at property auctions despite coronavirus

Property

A busy time in Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms with sales on two-thirds of the properties

25th Feb 20, 9:41am by Greg Ninness

There was plenty of action in Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms last week with nearly 200 residential properties on offer and sales achieved on two thirds of them.

The real estate agency marketed 187 properties for sale by auction in the week form 17-23 February and sold 122 of them, giving an overall sales rate of 65%.

All of the auctions were busy with just one auction having less than a dozen properties on offer. That was the mortgagee/court auction where just two properties were offered and both were sold.

The highest sales rate was achieved at the on-site auctions where 15 properties were offered and the sales rate was 87%.

At the big Manukau auction the sales rate was 66%, and at the North Shore auctions 59% were sold (see table below).

The higher number of properties coming to market and the relatively strong sales rate suggests a strong level of activity over the remainder of the summer selling season. If worries about the effects of coronavirus are impacting the market, it is not showing up in the sales figures yet.

Details of the individual properties offered and the results achieved are available on our Residential Auction Results page.

The comment stream on this story is now closed.

Barfoot & Thompson Residential Auction Results
17-23 February 2020
Date	Venue	Sold	Sold Prior	Sold Post	Not Sold	Postponed	Withdrawn	Total	% Sold
19-23 Feb	On site	10	3				2	15	87%
18-Feb	Manukau	17	4		11			32	66%
18-Feb	Shortland St	12	1		6			19	68%
19-Feb	Mortgagee/Court	2						2	100%
19-Feb	Shortland St	25	1		7		2	35	74%
19-Feb	Pukekohe	4		1	6		1	12	42%
20-Feb	North Shore	22	4		17		1	44	59%
20-Feb	Shortland St	7	2		3			12	67%
21-Feb	Shortland St	5	2		5	3	1	16	44%
Total	All venues	104	17	1	55	3	7	187	65%

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77 Comments

by tothepoint - d… | 25th Feb 20, 9:52am 1582577550

The housing market is nearing peak-season and the sales volumes/percentages show it.

Congratulations to all buyers and sellers.

TTP

by rastus1 | 25th Feb 20, 10:25am 1582579535

Congratulations to sellers, commiserations to buyers.

by Good Samaritian | 25th Feb 20, 10:58am 1582581539

Found out over the weekend why things are the way they are.

There is an accommodation crisis, and working couples are living in cars because there is not enough houses to go round. While it started in Auckland, this is now a cancer spreading through the country as locals are being forced to relocate.

God knows why the current government are continuing to allow more immigrants than housing is available? Because a good chunk of these dont come with any skills, the only conclusion I can come up with is the short term stimulus they are creating; but at what cost?

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 12:29pm 1582586941

Successive govts have paid scant attention to the costs of high immigration.

by Plutocracy | 25th Feb 20, 2:14pm 1582593240

Because it's the only was they can claim they're 'growing the economy'. Lazy economics.

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 3:02pm 1582596164

100%

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 3:14pm 1582596863

So do we agree that's going to continue in the future?

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 5:36pm 1582605386

Because if we do (and leave the right or wrong, good or bad judgements aside), we can predict reasonably well what is going to happen

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 9:43pm 1582620196

You tell me? I assume you are suggesting house prices will keep rising.
Certainly high immigration helps support increase house prices but it doesn't guarantee it.
It also needs to be remembered that many immigrants can't afford to buy. Many are moderate income earners. I know a few Saffas who arrived here in Auckland in the last 2 years who are mid to high income earners but can't afford to buy.
The migrant profile has changed a lot. In the 2000s a lot of the immigration was middle class people arriving from the UK. Back then 1 pound converted to 3 dollars, so Auckland housing was relatively affordable for them. Not now when its 1 pound to 2 dollars
The immigration profile of 2020 will support rents more than house prices.

by b21 | 25th Feb 20, 9:36pm 1582619812

You should keep finding out, housing shortage has been made up by the real estate controlled media which is most of it in NZ due to how much they rely on advertisement.

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 9:46pm 1582620383

Ashley Church is now not only a property spruiker in OneRoof but is also a feature article writer in the Herald...with apparently no journalism qualifications nor specialisms.
He's the next Hosking (well, at least Hosking has journalistic training and background)

by CN | 26th Feb 20, 12:36am 1582630568

On the role of media in the Irish property price boom.

However, overwhelmingly, the Irish analysts and institutions, including the media, maintained that there was no bubble and that the boom would eventually end in a soft landing. Indeed, there is a clear discrepancy between coverage of the housing bubble before and after it burst. Before 2008, the media tended to largely ignore it, and it was only months after it started deflating that reality had to be faced. Once the housing market collapsed, the media simply could not ignore its downwards trajectory, hence the increased coverage. I have included two figures showing the number of articles on the housing bubble that appeared in newspapers by year. On average,The Irish Times had 5.5 times more articles on the bubble per year in 2008–11 than in 1996–2007. Similarly, the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent had on average 12.5 times more such articles in 2008–11 than in 1999–2007. Moreover, the few articles published during the earlier period often denied that there was a bubble. For example, there were articles in The Irish Times entitled “Study refutes any house price ‘bubble’ “ and “House prices ‘set for soft landing’,” while the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent had headlines such as “NCB [Stockbrokers] rejects house value threat from burst bubble,” “House prices not about to fall soon, insist auctioneers,” “Price of houses ‘not over-valued’ says new report,” and “There is no property bubble to burst, despite doomsayers.” In particular, between 2000 and 2007, The Irish Times published more than 40,000 articles about the economy, but only 78 of these were about the property bubble, or 0.2%. This is small coverage for what was the most important economic story in those years.
The residential and commercial property sections and supplements presented articles and glossy pictures encouraging readers to buy as opposed to renting. Stories described various properties on sale and were virtually indistinguishable from advertisements. One entitled “There’s a billion reasons to buy” introduced new luxury apartments by noting that they “feature quality designer kitchens with integrated AEG appliances [whatever that is] and stone worktops; top notch bathrooms with ceramic tiles, heated towel rails and chrome fittings”. Potential buyers should waste no time, though, as “numbers are strictly limited – you’d want to stake it fast”. Articles celebrated Ireland’s newly found pride in entrepreneurialism at home and abroad. One profiled the “ever-bullish Irish property buyer … looking for the hot new property market”, wherever it is in the world. Another article stated: “[I]n Victorian times, it was fashionable for the British to suggest that ‘the sun never sets on our Empire’. Now the sun never sets on Ireland’s burgeoning property empire”.
The media relied on so-called experts from the financial or real estate industry to describe the market, which thus received almost invariably upbeat analysis. For example, as late as November 2007,The Irish Times conducted a survey among “property experts” to predict how the market would evolve in 2008. The six experts selected all held high-level positions with property firms. Not surprisingly, their forecast was enthusiastic. A number of journalists simply acted as cheerleaders for the property sector. Many even persisted in rejecting the view that the market had been in a bubble months after it started collapsing. For example, in April 2008, the Sunday Independent conveyed the thoughts of a real estate agent who believed that “[T]he time to buy is now. There is certainly great value in the market at the minute but it doesn’t mean people can dilly dally.” Another journalist wrote a book entitled The Best is Yet to Come in 2007 and claimed that “Far from collapsing, our economy and property prices will do more than hold up.” All that was required to protect Ireland against a crisis was not to talk about it, because “unless we talk ourselves into one, an economic storm is not going to happen.”
Television followed the same pattern as the print press. During the boom, RTE sustained a national obsession with houses by presenting programmes such as “House Hunters in the Sun”, “Showhouse”, “About the House” and “I’m an Adult, Get Me Out of Here”. Leading current affairs programmes such as “Prime Time” also sustained a housing bubble. Between 2000 and 2007, 717 shows were aired, of which only ten, approximately 1%, contained a segment concerned with the housing boom. These shows presented a total of 26 guests or interviewees of whom 11 came from the property or financial sectors, four were politicians from the main political parties, four were journalists, academics or researchers, and three were economic consultants. With respect to their views on the housing boom, only two interviewees said clearly that there was a bubble and that it would burst while the other 24 remained vague, argued explicitly that the housing market was and would remain strong in the years to come, or stated that a soft landing was to be expected if the boom decelerated at some point.

https://inquiries.oireachtas.ie/banking/hearings/julien-mercille-on-the…

by xingmowang | 25th Feb 20, 9:58am 1582577881

New Zealand is a paradise-like place to have a family for the rich.

And there is a price tag for living in a paradise.

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 10:00am 1582578021

Is that how a lot of people in China view NZ ?

by xingmowang | 25th Feb 20, 10:08am 1582578519

Actually No.

Most ppl will find NZ tooooo booooooring.

but for some certain types of ppl, NZ's isolation, quietness, mild weather, little population and sometimes down to earth attitude are quite appealing.

by Keen Observer | 26th Feb 20, 12:17am 1582629423

The price tag is higher & keep getting up .. at what cost? - of course the local ruling elite can be bought. My point is; have the CCP thought you about action/reaction, causal relationships? - you need to modify that thought process that cost=just $ price. It's connected soo much in the background that all cannot be just resolved by $. More complex reasoning behind it, Now although I'm not a fan.. you can theorising what the local Maori felt? - hence, the claim.. we're always in the paradise for centuries.. until now suddenly it will become price tagged. When we equate everything into $/money, then the sense of entitlement will come with it. Clue, do you realised? that in theory your more expensive paradise of price tag to pay compare to NZ is the price of RE in China? - So, China is a paradise for the super rich family, able to enjoy import fresh can of air produced in NZ against the backdrop of polluted air in the main cities. You won't be able to afford it, hence? you're moving here to the cheaper dumb country - but of course by the money standard imported from China? it's higher by the local native here, NZ let alone have money, we used to barter here, long ago just by exchanging tree leaf, before those dollar paper being made as trade currency. Now? this dams eftpos plastic.. oh the good ol' days.

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 10:01am 1582578084

It's been a while since there was 65% clearance rate on good volumes

by tothepoint - d… | 25th Feb 20, 10:18am 1582579094

Top of the morning to you, Yvil.

It's nice to have some positive news to start the day.

TTP

by Averageman | 25th Feb 20, 1:50pm 1582591831

Good to see the "still be be seen potential" of Covid19 is having no impact. Overseas students (tenants) are not being delayed in arrival, log exports are not impacted, food exports are not impacted, IT equipment manufacturing and export ex China are not impacted, airlines profitability are not impacted, global spread and further impairment of workforce will not happen, listed companies will maintain forecast (see Apple), US stock markets are not beginning a sell off.

But seriously, does any one think the big unwinding could start off the back of this (Y/N)?

by Good Samaritian | 25th Feb 20, 1:00pm 1582588811

Might be time to do some real research on the effects of this virus.

15,000 logging truck drivers are currently out of work.

by CourtJester | 25th Feb 20, 3:50pm 1582599001

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic

by Mrs The Point | 25th Feb 20, 2:28pm 1582594087

Yes.

by custard | 25th Feb 20, 3:24pm 1582597472

The big unwinding depends on the intentions of combined Central Banks.

They have stood in front of and brought an end to all previous rational attempts by the market to unwind – when in fact it should have been allowed to.

Now it’s the threat of a monster unwind – but the CB’s won’t want to be seen as ineffectual – and will merrily respond by hurling the next “final” mother lode of “whatever it takes”.

And off goes the can again.

by Keen Observer | 26th Feb 20, 12:26am 1582629995

Don't think so, NZ has big reliance on China - internal sources from RBNZ even indicated that there will be a significant capital injection being prepared by Xi Jinpin/CCP (after recent met with JK from ANZ) - should NZ economy get into shaky formation. China will not going to loose it's strong structural grip on NZ, NZ play critical role to launch the CCP mindset modification towards this corrupt Westernise idea for the world. The world need to understand the benefit of new Easternise paradigm.

by Nzdan | 25th Feb 20, 10:42am 1582580536

Where's our resident "punching bag" CJ099?

by tothepoint - d… | 25th Feb 20, 1:12pm 1582589546

Hi Nzdan,

Concerning our nefarious "punching bag" CJ099; given his multitude of blunders/mishaps/disasters/deceit/lies etc, I reckon he should lie low for a very long time.

Why the infamous punching bag comes here just about every day and continues to shoot his mouth off is something that's unfathomable to me.

TTP

by Pragmatist | 25th Feb 20, 12:12pm 1582585931

Mirror mirror on the wall...

by CJ099 | 25th Feb 20, 12:57pm 1582588646

So who are you going to start verbally attacking next TTP for no reason? Fritz, Good Samaritian, ratus, Adam B NZ, cmat? They've all voiced similar concerns about the market and the impact it has on our economies. Or will you continue to attack just anyone, that you and your Real Estate Agent buddies think they you can get away with abusing.

Just from a personal point of view, I actually own a home in AKL and have paid off the mortgage thanks to lowering mortgage rates. So I really don't need to worry if the property market goes up or down. What does concern me, is similar to what other commenters have mentioned even in this article. So no you won't be able to stop all of us from commenting.

by fat pat | 26th Feb 20, 2:25am 1582637159

Hey CJ099 I’m offended I’m not on your Cassandra list. I’ve consistently said this virus will become a severe global pandemic. Our lives are going to be changed forever. The fact that carriers are asymptomatic, and that the Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists measured the R0 between 4.7 and 6.6 says it all. It means all efforts to quarantine, and contact trace will probably fail.

by Houseworks | 26th Feb 20, 6:04am 1582650262

Thousands die from flu EVERY year and no-one mentions it. Out of the 1000s on the cruise ship Diamond Princess there has been FOUR deaths..

by fat pat | 26th Feb 20, 11:17am 1582669073

Epidemiological estimates are that over 60% of the worlds population will eventually be infected. With a 1% to 3% fatality rate that corresponds to ~50 to 140 million deaths worldwide. The relevant question is how long will it take to spread? If populations succumb rapidly, and health care professionals become sick (which is likely) then the health care system will be completely overwhelmed. There wont be enough oxygen cylinders to ventilate patients who're dying from hypoxia, let along staff in the ICU to care for them. In this respect it's different to the seasonal flu. Regarding the 691 Diamond Princess patients, a lot were elderly with health issues however they're all receiving the very best care. I hope they'll be okay but sadly I expect more to perish.

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 12:19pm 1582586383

Is he not asking for it when he either doesn't read or just completely ignores the article he comments on and then proceeds to comment the absolute opposite to be true?

by Adam B NZ | 25th Feb 20, 11:11am 1582582296

Give it a few more weeks and the steam will be coming out of the market big time. Slowing migration, Tourism impacted significantly, consumer demand and supply shock, property supply now in surplus for Auckland, Imports and exports getting hammered, drought impacts, record household debt to both income and GDP, negative household savings rates. Recipe for downside ahead.

by CN | 25th Feb 20, 11:59am 1582585141

Most people in NZ are unaware or don't understand how to interpret the data points that Adam has pointed out. Many just don't know what they don't know. That is the reason that many will get caught out.

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 12:31pm 1582587112

Still partying on the Titanic while there is trouble below

by guwop | 25th Feb 20, 5:52pm 1582606345

Absolutely. And the majority of Kiwi's, including TTP/Yvil/Man2, don't seem to understand that the bank will hand out umbrella's when the sun shines.

But it will take them back when it rains.

by CN | 25th Feb 20, 7:00pm 1582610426

there are people solely focused on the rising prices of deck chairs on the upper deck of the Titantic.

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 7:07pm 1582610838

Indeed, the top deck chairs that guarantee a spot on the lifeboats vs missing out

by company of heroes | 25th Feb 20, 11:25am 1582583108

Have to give some praises to these brave souls, selfishlessly contibute to our economy. haha

by streetwise | 25th Feb 20, 5:41pm 1582605690

Results of further investigation of National List MP Paul Goldsmith's reply to journalist Jenee Tibshraeny's question in her report of 19th February that "was National caving into Chinese pressure" to loosen up foreign buyer restrictions ?" To which Goldsmith replied : "Not at all".
Jenee's article here:

https://www.interest.co.nz/property/103701/national-wants-make-it-easie…

Now, on last Thursday's Herald front page article the heading was: "Own Goal. Jamie-Lee Ross'spectacular political faux pas." In this article it said that Ross was one of four men charged by the serious Fraud Office for alleged donations to the National Party which had been broken up into smaller amounts to avoid disclosure.
The article revealed that the four donors charged were:
1. Yikan Zhang
2. Colin Zheng
3. Joe Zheng
4. Jamie-Lee Ross

Now, over the weekend I bailed up Paul Goldsmith (his list electorate office is in my electorate) and asked him to explain himself as to why he answered Jenee Tibshraeny's question as to was there any pressure from foreign lobbyists with the answer "Not at All" in contradiction to the evidence shown in the Herald article.
Goldsmith replied to me that although three of the charged appeared to have Chinese names it was not the case that they were Chinese....the three were actually the descendants of Chinese gold-diggers who came to NZ during the Otago gold Rush in the 19th century and had inter-married NZders of European heritage from those days; each would have less than 1% Chinese blood and were to all intents and purposes European NZers; and they had only retained the Chinese names because the money earned in the gold rush enabled them to buy into the green grocery business and from those early days green grocers were expected to have Chinese names.
Goldsmith's answer put me off balance; how could I not believe him now with this perfectly reasonable explanation as he sat back in his chair, smiling benevolently, in his immaculate navy blue pin-striped suit. His explanation was entirely convincing. I hung my head in shame at not having believed him from the beginning.
He then said with the smirk only a man full of confidence could manage: "I suppose you're going to suggest that the fourth man charged, Jamie-Lee Ross, is also Chinese. Ha ha."
At this juncture I regained my composure and said defiantly "Well he is Chinese....look at his Christian name: it is made up of a European name Jamie, which is his European name as most Chinese men have, and Lee is his Chinese name. And the name "Ross" is definitely a Chinese word because every time I buy a roast dinner from my local Chinese roast meal shop the owner asks me if I want "Ross" potatoes, and "Ross" kumara, and "Ross" pumpkin.
At this juncture Goldsmith had no answer, called my visit off, and stormed out of his office.
I had won a victory of sorts in my assurance that Goldsmith will never lie again...there is too much of a chance that I will find him out.

by Ex Expat | 25th Feb 20, 12:01pm 1582585303

TLDR

by rastus1 | 25th Feb 20, 12:12pm 1582585967

..classic!

by Mrs The Point | 25th Feb 20, 2:43pm 1582595014

Yikun Zhang was born in Puning PRC according to google.

by cmat | 25th Feb 20, 11:57am 1582585070

"Sales remain strong at property auctions despite coronavirus"

Why would it be impacted (yet)?
Lemmings running around buying houses at the moment are completely ignorant to what is happening in the wider world... beyond what they bank is willing to lend them.

by Ex Expat | 25th Feb 20, 12:25pm 1582586716

Why such disparaging words for people likely just getting on with their lives e.g. finding a place to live?

by Pragmatist | 25th Feb 20, 12:51pm 1582588302

Because now that this virus is beyond containment (it looked up until 3-4days ago that in might be possible to contain to Asia), things are going to go backwards rapidly. Stock market moves overnight/today are only the start IMO.
Flight bookings down, so there goes a chunk of tourism money, and retail income in popular holiday spots, and airBnb income.

Also, as far as housebuying goes, today alone many FHB just lost 2-3% off their kiwisaver balances for their deposit, and when (and I now accept it is when, not if) coronavirus gets here, what is going to happen when one partner gets it, and the other is forced to (self?)-quarantine for two weeks or more. Only a small percentage can effectively work from home, so if they don't have income protection insurance etc, they are going to be digging into whatever emergency funds they have to cover rent or mortgage payments. Things are going to get very tight very fast for anybody without significant savings, particularly small businesses.

by Ex Expat | 25th Feb 20, 1:35pm 1582590947

That could all well come to pass but I sense more than a dash of confirmation bias in the comment. I'd be delighted to be last man standing with my pile of cash but I suspect Orr is going to ruin my party, especially in an election year. Meanwhile, people who want to live in a property will continue to buy. That doesn't make them lemmings. In hindsight those 'lemmings' have been the smart ones in the room while Hickey et al have told them to hold off. How did that work out in 2009?

by Pragmatist | 25th Feb 20, 5:02pm 1582603373

Confirmation bias? No, just adjusting to the changing reality. A few weeks ago I thought coronavirus was going to be contained in China (and a couple of close neighbours), now it is apparent that its far too late for that. People out of work, or recovering from illness are not going to be rushing out and buying housing, and if coronavirus gets here before a decent vaccine is produced, if it follow the pattern of hitting the elderly hard there are going to a lot of estate sales, and forced sales if the main/only breadwinner is off work for significant time..or permanently.

by Houseworks | 25th Feb 20, 10:38pm 1582623503

More people are leaving hospital having recovered than are going in needing treatment

by paulywalnuts | 25th Feb 20, 10:03pm 1582621402

Exactly. People cant hold off forever and the fundamentals of demand/supply just seem too overpoweringly favored to demand. Its a terrible situation and quite frankly one of the nations great shames because the structural social issues that are being created from the crisis are ones that NZ will have to deal with in the coming decades and there will be no quick fixes. (it is already seeing the results of this but it will get much worse in my opinion).

by CourtJester | 26th Feb 20, 11:25am 1582669551

>People cant hold off forever
Are you sure about that? I've seen a lot of people on Queen Street that are very much able to hold off forever...
Some sellers on the other hand may not be able to hold on to their property forever.

by CN | 26th Feb 20, 1:10am 1582632649

"How did that work out in 2009?"

Note that the conditions in the real estate market in 2020 are different from that of 2009. How you may ask? Here are some of the changes since 2009:

1) foreign buyers ban implementation
2) restriction of offshore income for mortgage lending
3) tax rules - bright line test, ring fencing of tax losses on residential leasing businesses
4) rules governing residential leasing business - Healthy Homes Guarantee, upcoming changes in Residential Tenancies Bill
5) credit conditions - such as lower LVR's, stringent application of debt servicing calculations
6) changes in rules by APRA (who own the big 4 banks in NZ)
7) property valuations
8) interest rate levels
9) in Auckland - implementation of Unitary Plan

by cmat | 25th Feb 20, 1:39pm 1582591144

Yep, particularly small business.

More than 60% of Chinese SMEs have less than 2 months cash reserves to weather being shut down.
Their economy is quickly being eviscerated by this thing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-23/millions-of-chinese-…

by custard | 25th Feb 20, 3:08pm 1582596499

If you were to believe this headline it wouldn’t take a sharp slowdown in NZ very long to create considerable financial hardship for many either.

“25% of Kiwis have no cash savings, research shows”

https://www.odt.co.nz/business/25-kiwis-have-no-cash-savings-research-s…

by cmat | 25th Feb 20, 3:25pm 1582597544

Well yeah, exactly.

And I wouldn't be surprised if our SMEs have similar levels of cash reserves (1-2 months).

This disruption doesn't need to go for much longer to have irreversible repercussions.

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 12:35pm 1582587324

I don't think the coronavirus will be the thing that destroys the NZ housing market....
There's far deeper and profound economic things brewing...
I stand by my view that the market will be whacked by 2022

by Pragmatist | 25th Feb 20, 12:54pm 1582588464

Not sure I agree.. the virus is now in Europe, Middle east and Asia, and I can't see it being contained in the Middle east, so it will soon make its way into the African continent where it will kill a huge number of people. How soon will it rear its head in South America?

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 1:04pm 1582589069

Fair enough. But how does the broader global economic impact feedback into housing impacts? General crash in confidence?

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 1:26pm 1582590360

It could (I'm not saying it will) come via too many NZ people losing their jobs IF tourism, trading, exports etc… reduce significantly, this could in turn lead to people defaulting on their mortgages => mortagee sales with very few buyers => lowering of house values

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 1:34pm 1582590847

yeah.
Don't know how much that contagion could spread to cities though.
An economy such as Auckland is in some ways quite de-coupled from our resources sector.
Thoughts?

by Averageman | 25th Feb 20, 1:49pm 1582591743

Not untrue. But...Awk is the hub of lots of the service sector, which sits squarely on top of the productive export sector, and import activity. A significant slowdown in export, international education, and regional tourism slowdown will put the brakes on everything that is not significantly underpinned by Govt funding (large civil projects etc). Those that leveraged up large in regional NZ for the free capital gains could be in for a fairly interesting run. Time will tell.

by THE MAN 2 | 25th Feb 20, 2:04pm 1582592667

CJ099, why have you repaid the mortgage on your house?
Doesn’t make that much sense to do that!
You should be leveraging to purchase income producing assets especially now that interest rates are so affordable.

by rastus1 | 25th Feb 20, 2:50pm 1582595445

...very happy to have no debt on my home or investments. You go for it big boy.

by THE MAN 2 | 25th Feb 20, 5:32pm 1582605142

Your choice Rastus, but not the best investment strategy!

by house hunter | 25th Feb 20, 6:30pm 1582608651

There is no "best investment strategy" !!! GOT IT???

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 10:22pm 1582622521

I read something yesterday that ChCh prices are flat and the economy is looking weak.

by Yvil | 25th Feb 20, 2:14pm 1582593257

Fritz, it's not the contagion itself which is the risk to the economy (or the housing market), it's the people's reaction to it. If people stop travelling, going out to restaurants, shops etc, in summary if people are scared and stay home and stop spending, businesses will shut down so employees will lose their jobs, they in turn tighten the belt and things spiral downwards

by Fritz | 25th Feb 20, 2:18pm 1582593504

My use of 'contagion' was metaphorical not literal.

by Pragmatist | 25th Feb 20, 2:10pm 1582593051

Wall street down 3% today.. guess where most FHB kiwisaver funds are.
General travel restrictions, nz tourism sector is going to suffer.
We already have logs and freezing works with nowhere to send the goods.
And when it gets here, how many people are going to be able to take 2-3weeks off work to self-isolate if a family member gets sick.. and thats assuming it isn't a serious case or a fatality.

by CN | 25th Feb 20, 2:28pm 1582594114

Fritz,

FYI, read some thoughts made here of possible chain of events in comments.

https://www.interest.co.nz/business/103674/bnz-economists-caution-hit-n…

by Houseworks | 25th Feb 20, 10:45pm 1582623930

Pragmatist
" it will kill a huge number of people."
This would be the climate activists dream so what are you complaining about. Always look on the bright side of life mate.

by Pragmatist | 26th Feb 20, 2:01pm 1582678886

Well, except the typical African isn't really that big a contributor to AGW, they don't sit on their fat asses in SUVs driving to Maccas

by CN | 25th Feb 20, 2:10pm 1582593056

by b21 | 25th Feb 20, 9:39pm 1582619964

The fact that we are actually talking about that means that people do take it into account and will eventually have an impact whether there are any real reasons for concern or not.

by Houseworks | 26th Feb 20, 6:15am 1582650942

Fritz the market will NOT be whacked in 2022 it is against the anti-smacking laws!

by Keen Observer | 26th Feb 20, 12:00am 1582628413

Yip, that Corona will turn out to be Corolla soon then Prius.. Business As Usual. That virus outbreak have nothing to do with NZ internal wealth creation resources, just like the current Saudi's oil export - it's limitless, nothing to worry here. Please, try not to correlate this virus outbreak with our prosperous RE industries. It's absurd.

by Somebloke | 29th Feb 20, 5:19pm 1582949964

Its been a while since i hought a residential property. I put in an offer recemtlybut was so stunned by the arrogant behaviour of the agent and the vendors that I withdrew the offer. That they would think their behavior was normal tells me its a bad time to buy.