Dear Resident,
The latest review (September 2014) saw no change in the official cash rate (OCR). This was expected as there are no indications of inflation growing in our economy and the New Zealand dollar remains high against the $US, Pound, the Yen and the Euro. Because of the ongoing weakness in the major overseas economies - USA, Japan and Europe there is no sign of increased interest rates in those regions.
In fact the opposite seems to be the case especially in Europe and Japan. This means our interest rates (OCR 3.5%) are already much higher than any other country in Europe, USA, Australia or the UK. It seems unlikely that the OCR and hence bank mortgage rates will increase before March 2015 at the earliest.
Fixed interest borrowing rates in New Zealand have actually fallen in the last month because of cheaper overseas money being available to our banks. Three year fixed rates are particularly attractive at the moment. House prices rose 0.4% in Auckland in August (REINZ stats). The median selling price in Waitakere is now $515,000 and there were 351 sales. This number of sales is below the middle range for an August month. During the boom period of 2003 Waitakere City sales numbered well over 500 for the month of August and during the GFC (global financial crisis) in August 2008 sales were barely 200 for the month.
The major reason for a relatively low number of sales is the lack of properties on the market. There is an extremely large number of buyers searching for property and sales numbers would be much higher if more properties came to market. Perhaps the general election being held this month is holding back sellers until they know the result - this has been a trend for past general elections. With Spring / Summer approaching and soon the election behind us I believe both the number of sales and price increases will continue at a faster pace than over the past few months.
Do you want to know the value of your property? It’s probably worth more than you think. Contact me for a free no obligation appraisal.
Capital Gains August 2009 - 2014 - Median Prices
Green Bay 35.4%
Titirangi 37.7%
West Harbour 33.0%
Hobsonville 44.0%
Best wishes,
John Goodrum
Licensee Agent REAA 2008
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