Buyers out in force

Can you believe we are about to put up our Christmas tree on Monday the 1st. The lead up to Christmas is ramping up and with it the competition to secure sales now on. It’s increasingly evident that market values have shifted downwards. For many, the latest round of CV’s is unhelpful in understanding today’s market value. We note no shortage of buyers many of whom are already factoring in significantly lower interest rates. Many already predicting a drop next week in the OCR of 1.25%

High expectations

While conditions in the market place are continuing to be reported in bleak terms with volumes down 44.3% on the same period last year, we are continuing to make an acceptable number of sales. We note that vendors by and large continue to have aspirations of achieving a price akin to last years values, possibly fueled by the latest CV’s which in many cases are quite misleading. We can report no shortage of buyers, most of whom are already factoring lower interest rates.

New National direction

The change of government has brought with it a sense of new purpose and direction. We are now confidently expecting a lower OCR and lower income tax. An interesting side effect of the lower kiwi dollar is the enquiry developing from overseas buyers and expats looking to re-patriate. We are currently experiencing the traditional seasonal increase of marketed homes. Fingers crossed, there seems to be an increase in buyer enthusiasm to match.

Change

What a week for our world. The Obama win was the American response to a call for change. This weekend we will see if New Zealanders respond in similar fashion. Interest rates continue to be talked about in downward terms. We are noticing an increase in offers and sales – certainly, this is somewhat seasonal, but there’s no doubt interest rate falls are injecting confidence. We have had several very competitive auctions this week – the first for some time. Spring time is on our market!