Isaac Newton once famously said ‘what goes up, must come down’. And it would appear, much to our horror, he was right. The New Zealand property market has just undergone the biggest price correction on record, and Wellington has been hit the hardest of them all. So, let’s delve into what we can learn from the rollercoaster market of 2022. Location Matters The old American adage of...
The property market over the last seven years has been anything but stable. A period of steady growth kicked off in 2016 culminating in the black swan event that was Covid. And after the dizzying heights of 2020/2021, it seems like we’re having a particularly hard landing this year. So I ponder. When it comes to making price predictions in an ever-changing market, is the traditional method of coming up...
Skill And Experience Matters The public at large are unlikely to give a second thought to the fact that many agents are pondering their future in the industry. Those on the fence may wait and see what the summer market throws up. They may want to see whether the annual lift in sales can provide them with enough oxygen to keep going. Others, perhaps newer to the industry, are likely to exit...
Last month I was fortunate enough to travel to Australia to attend a tri-annual Ray White conference with over three thousand attendees. It was my first overseas trip in a few years, and it gave me some insight into the mindset of New Zealanders and the opportunity that is available to us. While this month’s barometer might not be real estate focused, hopefully it encourages you to look differently,...
One of many tactical mistakes made in WW1 was the lack of decentralised command. Simply put, lower ranked officers and soldiers on the ground were not permitted to make decisions in response to changing situations. This lack of real time data causes the same problems in the real estate market. The market has changed so rapidly and by the time the media releases sale data and trends it is too old to make...
Like all advice, it’s great to give but terrible to receive. That’s our warning before you read on. This Barometer is filled with the things we all know we should do, but put off. Long time consumers of the Barometer will have read many of my rants regarding deferred maintenance. The thing is, when the buyers have FOMO and the market is in full swing they overlook physical depreciation. This...
Paul the Octopus shot to fame for his ability to predict the outcome of football matches during the 2010 Football World Cup. Paul had no real insight. His picks were driven by food. Paul had a 50/50 chance of getting it right and simply hit a lucky streak. If Paul was alive today (fun fact: the tentacled sea creatures only live 2-3 years), perhaps he’d be able to predict the property market. Because it...
In July 2021 I wrote about the potential of the ‘silent killer’, that being inflation. I had an inkling that an abundance of cheap money and the rising cost of supplies may land us in the perilous position we are in now. Depending on your economic view, you may believe our current inflation rate is transitory, while others believe it is here to stay. Irrelevant of who is right, one thing we know is...
One of the upsides of testing positive for Covid is that it gave me a head start on this month’s Barometer, which consequently keeps the boss off my back. As Omicron spreads itself across the country, I ponder how the New Zealand property market has mirrored this Covid outbreak. When Auckland sneezes, New Zealand catches a cold (or maybe it’s Covid!) Toward the end of 2021 real estate agents started to...
Real estate agents are great at the ole’ humble brag. You know the ones: SOLD for a suburb record! SOLD 100% higher that the RV SOLD with 52 offers submitted at the tender! Want to know how I did it? Sadly, those days are gone (perhaps not the bragging). As we transition from a sellers’ market to a balanced, or perhaps even, a buyers’ market, now is the time you should be looking to...