Most members of the home owning public will be aware that real estate agents offer “free appraisals”. And anyone looking to sell will likely have commissioned a handful of appraisals to compare their potential sales range. But the longer I spend in the industry, the more I ponder what role do appraisals really play in a property sale? In my former career, as a registered valuer, I...
Keen observers of our business may have noticed a significant shift in the approach we have taken to selling real estate in the current market. Auctions. This will come as a big surprise to many as it has long been argued ‘Auctions don’t work in Wellington’. This month’s Barometer will provide you with insight into our decision and shed light on why auctions have become a game-changer. The...
Last month the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, announced an easier path to citizenship for Kiwis. This has been a long awaited and now celebrated change. Prior to the 2000’s Kiwi’s crossed the ditch and settled with relative ease in Australia. That was until, in the Aussies’ eyes, we started to take advantage of that ease. It was the sun drenched country in which we could access...
The four horsemen of the New Zealand apocalypse are the supermarket, petrol, insurance companies and the banks. There is zero public appetite for 'excessive profits' which has resulted in multiple formal and costly investigations being commissioned. But how much is too much and is a bank making a substantial profit really a bad thing? Before we answer this question, we ponder 'how did we end up...
Sorry to start this barometer with negative thoughts, but it really feels like we've been putting out a lot of fires since the 2020’s rolled around. No sooner do we think the coast is clear, then yet another crisis raises its ugly head. And while some of the recent ones have been more localised, we will all end up paying for them in the end. Post the Christchurch quake of 2011, insurance...
While the real estate market takes a topsy-turvy ride in most parts of the country, we ask (and answer) the questions many are asking. In keeping with market cycles, the last 12 months residential real estate has experienced significant downward momentum. We will probably still experience a small amount of pressure but nothing like the decline of 2022. So, while some buyers desert the market, we ask,...
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...