International Property Investment » New Zealand property investment

New Zealand Overseas Investment Rules To Be Liberalised

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:00:58 +0000

Yes the title is correct, New Zealand, with one of the world’s most liberal and open regimes for overseas property investment may be planning on liberalizing still further.

New Zealand allows any overseas investor to buy most properties. Any existing or new build domestic property can be bought as an investor. Most investors will not have too much trouble getting local finance either, although with a significant deposit of 20% plus.

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New Zealand Property Hot in South East Asia

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:00:02 +0000

New Zealand company Bayley’s Real Estate is increasing its presence in key South-East Asian countries as interest in New Zealand property increases among Asian overseas property investors.

According to the New Zealand Herald Bayley’s are focusing on China, Hong Kong and Singapore investors and a promoting a mixture of more expensive New Zealand property including commercial, industrial, rural and coastal listings.

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Ed Hillary’s House For Sale

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:00:28 +0000

Sir Ed Hillary’s long-time home in Auckland is for sale by auction within a few weeks. New Zealand’s most famous son bought the Remuera house 1956 until his death last year.

Time to buy property in New Zealand ?- Experts Call the Bottom

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:00:26 +0000

The useful thing with watching a small market its not hard to know who knows their stuff and who don’t. For many years Tony Alexander, BNZ’s Chief Economist has been accurately calling the New Zealand property market.

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NZ Interest Rates Hit Historic Low, Dollar Follows

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:00:20 +0000

The NZ Reserve Bank has knocked 1.5% off the base rate to give New Zealand an official cash rate of 3.5% – the lowest rate for the country ever. Its a dramatic decline from the 8.25% the cash rate stood at in the middle of 2008

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Agent Burns House to Ground – Lists Firesale

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:00:40 +0000

OK so maybe it wasn’t her fault – but this is a fairly odd story – even by real estate standards!

An eco-friendly luxury holiday is on the market in New Zealand’s remote Stewart Island. The Christchurch based owners, hire upmarket Merivale Harcourts in Christchurch to market the property and agent Gail Hudson went for an overnight site visit. Spending a couple of nights in the house you are selling may sound odd- but in fact it makes good sense in this case because Stewart Island is really a whole day’s trip from Christchurch – and there is limited accommodation options.

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NZ’s Main Lender Makes it Harder to Get a Home Loan

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:00:46 +0000

The merged banks ANZ/National Bank have announced that first home buyers will need 20% deposits. From yesterday the previous minimum deposit requirement of 10% has been doubled.

This means that buyers in Auckland, New Zealand’s most expensive city, where the median price is $433,000 will need a $86,600 deposit. In Wellington they will need $74,000 for a median-priced property.

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Buying a Ski Field: Unusual Property Investment

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:37:05 +0000

Most ski fields around the world are leasehold operations. The operators don’t own the land just the lifts and buildings. That is the case with all New Zealand ski field with rare exceptions such as Mt Lyford Ski Field in Canterbury which is now up for sale.

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Are Bank’s Fair Weather Friends?

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:21:36 +0000

So what’s the experience like if you need to re-finance a loan or raise new money in the current economic storm in Australia or New Zealand?

First off: this is not the US: NZ and Australia banks never really got into the crazy lending practices of North America. That said though it had got very easy to get 70% LVR (loan value ratios) without using anything but government valuations (desk-top valuations) in New Zealand. A standard loan of 80% was routine with a reasonable valuation and proof of income. Loans of over 80% were always more difficult and some lenders avoided them. But if you found the right lender you could borrow up to 100% without proof of income so long as you had a track record.

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Using a Buyers Agent – A Good Idea?

Elisabeth Sowerbutts — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:50:40 +0000

Buyers agents are enjoying a resurgence in Australia’s residential property market. Here’s a quick reminder for the terminally naive: normally a real estate agent works for a the seller not the buyer. His job is to sell the property, preferably at the highest price possible. An agent working for the buyer, in contrast, works only for the buyer and is of course therefore paid by the buyer. Depending on the contract you may even end up paying the agent even if you don’t buy a property that the agent has introduced you to. So you need to be sure that property choices he’s presenting you with are the best possible choices in the market.

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