Just when we thought we were heading for Summer – a deluge! It doesn’t seem to have deterred buyers however. This week’s Auctions have all been well attended and bid for. At this point in the year, many vendors are looking to the New Year. If that’s you, we would be keen to help you look at your options. Roll on sunshine!

Interesting to note the comments around how many homes Auckland actually needs. Our observation is that if there was general market acceptance of plaster homes, the shortage would greatly decrease. Of interest, we are starting to observe more purchasers taking onboard these homes and dealing with the issues. We also note many professionals taking on the re-clad and receiving positive reaction to the end product.

It would seem many buyers have a steely resolve to make a purchase decision pre-Christmas. For us, this continues to translate into a near perfect clearance rate at Auction. The question being asked “Is it too late?” “Should I wait until the New Year?” We say no – act now, there are still many unsatisfied buyers looking to make a decision for the start of the new school year.

What an incredible spell of weather! It seems to have put some heat in the market – we’ve never had so many brought forward Auctions. Without exception, this has translated into intense competition and great results for home owners. Thinking of selling – you’ll need to be quick, with just 4 effective selling weeks to Christmas.

As we enter the back straight to the Christmas deadline, we are seeing the seasonal increase in houses listed for sale. The number of buyers does not automatically increase pro-rata, consequently the pressure around the market is spread as buyers take their time digesting the options. This can also mean some sellers may need to adjust their expectations in the face of increased competition.

Well if The Block showed us anything; it’s that putting yourself in a position to enjoy competitive bidding can result is an exponential result. Sure it doesn’t happen all the time, but without selling by auction you will be forever wondering how much money you left on the table.

With the news around the economy generally positive and comment that unemployment in Auckland being at its lowest for 2 years, it’s not hard to understand why the housing market continues to march on in spite of the LVR restrictions. We’re busy and getting busier. Great to have a long weekend – enjoy!

Our observation is that the new LVR ‘ special limits’, while slowing the sale rate at the lower end of the market, have not dampened buyer enthusiasm to purchase. Our suspicion is that the current hiatus is a forerunner to a range of creative solutions that will no doubt be forthcoming and see first home buyers return in force.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat". Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

What a week – An All Black win and surely a win to Team New Zealand. There’s much to be proud of and even more to look forward to with the return of the America’s Cup to the Viaduct – exciting times !! And yet another reason to have a piece of property in Auckland.

The Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler has kept the official cash rate at 2.5% today, although he suggests it may rise sometime next year. In the meantime we continue to see the under supply of homes, relative to buyer numbers, producing excellent results, particularly at Auction

The traditional Spring listings season has yet to translate into the volumes we have seen in previous years. As a consequence, those homes currently for sale are receiving high interest resulting in one of the lowest lead times to sale for some years. On the other side of the ledger, buyer demand continues unabated – these two scenarios together are forcing sale prices onwards in the vendor’s favour.

Counting chickens before they hatch is fraught with disappointment – it is however, hard not to get excited about the prospect of an America’s Cup win and the impact that would have on our city and country. Regardless, there is no doubt that as a nation, we are enjoying increasing favour from international buyers.

The new restrictions around bank’s Loan To Value Ratio (LVR) will undoubtedly affect many first home buyers. The Reserve Bank has indicated approx. 30% of all bank lending is to those with less than 20% deposit. It will be interesting to see the extent to which this applies to buyers in Central Auckland.

The demand for homes in the areas we serviced over the last period, the sales made and the prices paid altogether have us more convinced that rather than witnessing a property bubble, Auckland is coming of age on the world stage. Increasingly, the mix of international buyers is changing perception of values - given the amenity values Auckland enjoys, this is only likely to increase. Go the All Blacks and Team NZ!

This ongoing mild weather suggests we may be heading towards an early Spring. With the start of the third school term we are seeing an increase in listings and predict a strong, competitive selling season leading up to Christmas. If you are contemplating making a change, our success rate at auction would suggest it’s a great time to sell.

We are often asked “what is the best time of year to sell?” In our opinion, the next period until the September school holidays is one of the most beneficial for home owners. Why? Because whilst the number of buyers in the market is unaffected by the season, home owners generally pick springtime, pre-Christmas to go to the market. Consequently, the same number of buyers is spread over a greater number of homes available.

As we approach the end of the mid-winter school holidays, as a company we can report one of the best Julys on record. We have particularly enjoyed an increase in activity and sales in the $2million - $4million plus range and note an increase in listing activity as we head towards Spring time

The CPI data out Tuesday showed inflation at 0.7%. This is the fourth consecutive quarter the result has been below the RBNZ target range of 1.3%. This information tends to further confirm interest rates are unlikely to rise before early to mid 2014.

We are seeing vendors committing to marketing programmes commencing after the current school holidays. This tends to be an industry trend we experience every year. The pre-launch work required has us busy and available. In short, we are keen to talk to you about selling your home and if you’re buying, we have some exciting new stock coming up.