Welcome to August’s Market Snapshot of the real estate market on the Hibiscus Coast.  If you would like to receive our more detailed, Monthly Market Update then simply email us and we will add you to our mailing list.  It’s a great way to keep informed about what is happening in the real estate market on the Hibiscus Coast without being bombarded every week (we also do a “Weekly Buyers Alert” email for anyone who is actively looking to buy – email us if you wish to receive these too).

Foreign Buyer Ban – October brings changes to the Overseas Investment Act and some key things to note are:

1. The new rules apply to residential land, including bare land, lifestyle properties, apartments and mixed use properties.
2. The new rules will apply to sale and purchase agreements entered into on or after 22 October 2018. The date of the agreement is the relevant date. For example, an agreement to purchase a house dated 21 October will not be captured by the new regime but an agreement dated 22 October will be subject to the new rules.
3. From 22 October, all purchasers of residential land, regardless of whether they are an “overseas person” or not, will need to complete a new document called a Purchaser Statement. The Purchaser Statement is being developed by the Overseas investment Office and will be released shortly. The Statement requires purchasers to declare whether or not they are an “overseas person” and therefore require the consent of the Overseas Investment Office to buy the property.

The Monthly Property Report has shown the median house price for Auckland increase 1.4% to $852,000 in August. Median house prices for New Zealand increased 3.6% year-on-year to $549,000. For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the increase was even greater with a 6.2% annual increase from $428,500 to $455,000.

“After six months of flat prices in Auckland it is positive to see an increase as we head towards spring. Breaking the Super City down into its old regional boundaries has shown that areas with solid annual median price increases were Manukau and Waitakere Cities with rises of 10.1% and 5.1% respectively. Whereas, North Shore City saw a fall of -14.6% year-on-year to a median price of $915,000 the lowest median the North Shore has seen since January 2016,” – Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ