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90 at 9: Mortgagee sales hit new high in September; listings rising
November 23rd, 2009Alex Tarrant presents 90 seconds at 9am in association with ASB. The New Zealand dollar finished off the week below 72.5 USc as US stocks ended their week on a low note and fears about the global recovery re-emerged, Reuters reported. Talk about the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s future last week from Labour leader Phil Goff may also have had a downward impact on the currency.
Mortgagee sales in New Zealand hit a new high in September, data released by Terralink shows. There were 343 mortgagee sales over the month, which was up from the previous high of 321 in July this year.
Mortgagee listings have also been on the rise in recent weeks. Figures supplied to interest.co.nz from realestate.co.nz show mortgagee listings rose to 379 this week, the highest level since 385 at the beginning of August.
Finally, South Canterbury Finance looks set to lose ‘millions’ as a receiver sells the assets of the Oakridge resort in Wanaka, the Sunday Star Times reported. South Canterbury is owed NZ$10.49 million on the resort.
Tags: 90 at 9, Alex Tarrant, Mortgagee sales, South Canterbury Finance
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November 23rd, 2009 at 9:19 am
Also worth noting that the total number of houses for sale is now starting to increase fairly rapidly:
http://www.interest.co.nz/charts/gallery12-60.asp
Supply seems to be coming on stream – is the demand there?
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
No doubt, I check the mortgagee sale from the Herald every Saturday, pages of mortgagee sale there.
it means there is no housing booming at the moment.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 am
So why are house prices still increasing? Unemployment is still rising, pay increases are zero to negligble for the most part, there is obviously a group of folk out there that are struggling to pay their mortgage…….who in their right mind would sign up for a mountain of debt in this economic climate? Sure, interest rates are low, but they ain’t gonna stay that way.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 am
andy – so the listing levels are roughly back to where they were in June, but open that graph out a bit more and you’ll see it’s still nothing like last year.
veedub – I don’t think we’ll see any more price drops until listing levels and interest rates get back to like they were last year, which will be when?!…..
(the million dollar question!)…..
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
Hi veedub,
You have interesting questions. Perhaps, the so called expert who is able to provide you with the answers could be nominated for a Nobel prize award. You could also be an expert by going around and attend open homes and to analyse the property listings in ie. trademe website. That could provide some useful information too. Check out if listings have been increasing and for longer or not ? I hope you could figure it out. There are 2 camps of commentators, so just trust in yourself and trust in your exploration.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:07 am
Are house prices actually increasing or has the type and price brackets changed to increase the ave price?
Someone in a post a while back mentioned ave long term house prices increased on ave around 6 or 6.5% per yr …well the ave price does….
So would a 6% increase in ave over the last 12 months qualify for another boom or be considered ‘normal’ ?
Dont believe all the propaganda that goes on choosing only the stats that on the surface, substantiate a preconceived concept or ultera motive.
There was a good article by a guy from 1st national realestate…think was hearld….Sat or Sunday…but cant find the link now….
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
@Grandy – what you suggested is precisely what I’ve been doing for the last 9 months or so. My observations are that there are definitely more houses on the market now than there were back then, initial asking prices seem to be in line with what they were back then too. Some are sitting on the market for a while, one that springs to mind is a good, solid place that I was initially very interested in but the asking price was too high. It’s now gone to tender so will most likely not find out what it went for for a while now. All in all, aside from there being more listings, I still have to shell out $450-$500k for an average house in a semi decent area. And no matter which way I slice that, it still isn’t appealing for me.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
@veedub – if under open market selling price is not attracting the right buyer, then tender might not get them the right price too. Whichever the case may be, just be comfortable with your current status; and if you are renting then just stay put at this juncture. You got to be comfortable with your pace and ability.
I don’t want to comment on media reports on housing. It is entirely up to each reader to digest for themselves. Just think about it – say if in 1 or 2 weeks, there are many different views being reported ie. “some say up and some say down”, then is this the market to enter? is our property market that solid where there are mixed information every now and then? And for those who predicted a boom, then they should be buying up huge and be rich….. why would they want to tell you and let you buy before them?
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Murray – its the trend, not the absolute level that is of note. 2 or 3 months ago agents could justafiably state there was a relative shortage of property. That is changing pretty quickly.
If the recent rate of increase of the last month or so stays at these levels by March of next year we will be fairly close to the saturated market levels seen at the end of 2008.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
@ Grandy – cheers! You’re on the same page as me. I personally don’t care too much what house prices do. I’ve been well taken care of in my father’s will when that day sadly comes (his words, not mine!). At that point, maybe I’ll buy, maybe I won’t. I’m not overly hung up about owning a house myself. It’s the young families that I feel truly sorry for. Most of them don’t stand a chance without the Bank of Mum and Dad, unless they buy in the provinces.
I shake my head in disbelief at property owners that rub their hands together with glee, and champion massive price increases. In my opinion, a house should be a place to live that keeps up with inflation. The only people that really benefit from massive house prices are RE Agents and Banks. Unless the vendor sells and banks the cash, usually they’ll trade up to a bigger or better house (more expensive) or use the equity to buy toys/holidays etc. It’s a quick-fix way of getting the things they want, and even though mortgage interest rates are lower than credit card or pesonal loan interest rates, the period they end up making the payments over means they still pay an absolute mozza in interest. Still, better than saving up and doing it the old fashioned way aye!