Harcourts' Ilse Evans Talks About the Purity of the Present Market

With fewer properties for sale than previous years at the same time, and with consistently active buyers, there are good opportunities for sellers.  Any buyer can be assured most sellers are currently highly motivated to sell for very genuine reasons. This means that no one is “testing” the market, making it a purer experience than ever before.

This is supported by the Cooper and Co “barometer” of the North Shore market, which says that for the month of August Harcourts had 70% success under the hammer; quite different from six months ago when it was only 30%. This was because nobody knew what they were doing, were too nervous and just simply didn’t understand the market.

This purer market sees investors dipping their toes back in to the property market after years of shifting conditions. The sector has gone through a period of significant change – first with tighter lending restrictions, then the proposal of a capital gains tax and new rules imposing insulation, heating and ventilation standards on rental properties.

This meant that many investors were left unable to buy, or chose not to while the changes were worked through, which cleared the way for first-time buyers to step up. In June, first-home buyers borrowed more money to buy houses than investors did for the first time since Reserve Bank data started to be collected in 2014.

But there are now signs that that is now changing again. Corelogic senior property economist Kelvin Davidson said, while overall sales numbers were still comparatively low, investors seemed to be "reasserting themselves" in the property market.

Auckland investor Satyan Mehra said he had been active in the property market in recent months. He said it made sense to buy because the market had been soft for some time. "If you are a hunter, there are a lot of deals or bargains to pick up, with a long-term view, and there are solid investment opportunities."

It’s still a tough market, so remember results speak when talking to the No.1 Agent of Takapuna/Hauraki, so for more information on real estate agent Hauraki, Harcourts Takapuna and sell my house Takapuna please go to http://www.ilseevans.co.nz .