The biggest improvement is the average days to sell which, at 25 days, is the first time it has fallen below a month since April 2005. Properly priced properties sell relatively quickly, often with competing offers.

The median price is sitting at around the $330,000 which Quotable Value tells us is an improvement of 2.2% compared with last year. Hastings and Central Hawkes Bay prices improved much more significantly at 6.1% and 8.8% respectively. Well-presented homes tend to attract a premium.

In the middle and lower end of the market demand is being stimulated by low interest rates and benefits to first home buyers. Buyer activity is also being boosted by positive immigration into the region, and out of town investors seeking better returns than metropolitan areas provide.

A lack of properties available for sale is not only limiting buyer choice, but constraining the scope of potential house sales in the months ahead. This data means that sellers can put their house on the market with confidence.

Over 93% of Hawkes Bay properties sell by Private Treaty, with the few remainder sales evenly divided between Auction and Tender. These latter methods of sale are not favoured by local purchasers who overwhelmingly want a clear price indication. Most importantly for sellers, those strategies could mean losing the best buyer who wants to buy now, rather than being forced to wait for a later date.

Although consumer confidence appears to be easing, households don’t appear to have been spooked as much as businesses by drops in dairy prices and uncertain global economic prospects.

The post Napier market trends positively appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

The Block and other reality renovation programmes, in which contestants spend a large amount of money and effort to fix up homes, has helped fuel an obsession with renovation. What The Block fails to teach is a crucial factor in playing the real estate game well.
Every potential renovator must understand this: increasing your sale price does not necessarily mean increasing your profit.

Recently, The Block’s Australian production company set realistic reserves on the 4 properties in the first series based on what they paid for the dwellings and the renovation costs. In an extremely awkward TV moment, three of the 4 properties failed to come close to their reserve prices.

Subsequent series set the reserves at lower levels so that reserves were met, and contestants were rewarded for their efforts. However, it is understood that the production company would have failed to break even on the project when the true dwelling and renovation costs were added together.

Here is a very simple rule to follow when considering renovating to add value for profit: look for $1.50 in extra value for every $1 you invest. This principal can often become derailed when, for example, an unwary seller invests $50,000 in renovations that only add $50,000 to the final sale price, or – worse still – much less. Even if a 0% profit is returned, the time and energy expended in planning, managing and undertaking those renovations make the real rate of return a major loser.

Often when if comes time to preparing a property for sale, uninformed homeowners will raise the cost of the house by the amount they spend on the house. The net dollar effect of this $1 for $1 renovations is zero but the pressure it creates on the sellers can be enormous.

You can avoid getting into situations like this by enlisting a trusted real estate professional to advise on the saleability of your home in its present condition. Then you can compare that to the price your agent might expect to achieve if clearly outlined improvements were made.

Interestingly landscaping may cost 1% of the property’s value but may increase your selling proposition more than any other renovation on a dollar-for-dollar basis. But you need to do your homework.

The post Adding value to your home appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

According to realestate.co.nz there were 366 properties for sale at the start of September and 169 new properties were listed during the month. Then 68 withdrew from sale (primarily vendors whose motivation to sell eased, or whose expectations were unrealistically high) and 112 properties sold. Overall the market shrunk to 355. A lack of properties available for sale is limiting the scope of potential house sales in the months ahead.

Limited choice is now beginning to lead to an improvement in property prices in Napier, particularly in mid-range properties, and while the shortage of stock continues we expect this to continue in the months ahead. This trend is likely to be restrained by affordability issues such as local income constraints. REINZ reports that the current median price in Napier is $337,500. Quotable Value reports that present prices are an average of 1.3% higher than a year ago. The Quarterly Price Index shows that at current levels prices are similar to those being achieved at the market peak in 2007 / 2008.

Well-presented properties in popular localities which are correctly priced are attracting excellent interest, often receiving multiple offers and selling for above average prices.

Although consumer confidence appeared to ease this year, households don’t appear to have been spooked as much as businesses by the drop in dairy prices and uncertain global economic prospects. The Reserve Bank and the New Zealand dollar, have both responded to these challenges – with the Bank cutting the OCR further in September, and the dollar depreciating 12% in the past three months.

Napier: Number of Sales 2014 / 2015

Napier: Median Prices 2014 / 2015

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Generally there is no capital gains tax on property sales in New Zealand. However, new rules affect properties purchased from 1st October 2015 and sold within two years of being bought may attract a tax liability from any increase in value.

The “bright line test” will be used to help Inland Revenue distinguish those who buy and sell residential property with the intention of making a profit from property sales.

The IRD has always had the ability to impose a tax when a property was bought with the INTENTION of profiting from the sale. But “intention” is often difficult to determine and enforce, resulting in a loss of tax revenue.
Under the new rules the sale of your main home is exempt, as is a property transferred on the death of a person or under a relationship agreement.

The calculation of the taxable portion is simple: it’s the difference between the purchase price and the selling price. And the tax is calculated at the individual’s marginal tax rate, the same as any other income.

Habitual renovators will also have the “bright line” test applied to them. Anyone who frequently buys a home and does it up while living in it, then sells it for a profit is really running a trading business.

These people should be taxed under existing law, so the new test simply makes this clear. It states that if a home renovator buys and sells their home more than twice in a two year period, they will be deemed a trader and tax will apply on any profit they make.

The bright line test is not aimed at people who buy a property to provide tenants with a home.

While there has always been a risk associated with quick turnover in the sale of investment properties, there has been debate on how the bright-line test could catch people whose personal circumstances change unintentionally, and must sell their investment property within two years, triggering a tax bill.

Two other compliance requirements under the new rules are that non-residents and New Zealanders buying and selling any property other than their main homes must provide a New Zealand IRD number with the transaction, and non-residents must have a New Zealand bank account to get a New Zealand IRD number.

If you are planning to buy and sell property, our recommendation is that you always seek independent legal advice to help ensure your interests are protected.

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Activity in the top half of the North Island is leading growth across the country as buyers look for more affordable property options outside major metropolitan centers.

First home buyers taking advantage of recent incentive improvements has help lift demand for homes up to the $350,000 cap which have improved by 19% during the past year. Investors are competing for these homes looking for better returns than banks or shares can currently offer.

A softening of lending constraints and further easing in interest rates is benefiting sellers in higher price brackets as well. In particular turnover between $350,000 and $600,000 has improved 25% over the past year.

A lack of property available for sale is limiting the scope of potential house sales in the months ahead. An audit of data from realestate.co.nz shows only 366 properties for sale in Napier in September 2015, which is 33% fewer than the same month a year ago.

Improved demand has had a positive effect on prices, which have stabilized. Quotable Value is reporting that prices have improved by 2.4% in Napier compared with the same period last year. QV’s Quarterly Price index shows that at current levels prices have returned to levels similar to the 2007/2008 market peak.

Well-presented properties in popular localities which are correctly priced are attracting excellent interest, often receiving multiple offers and selling for above average prices.

Although consumer confidence has eased this year, households do not appear to have been spooked as much as businesses by the drop in dairy prices and mounting uncertainty about global economic prospects. The Reserve Bank and the New Zealand dollar, have both responded to these challenges – with the Bank cutting the OCR further in September, and the dollar having depreciated 12% in the past three months.

Napier: Number of Sales

Napier: Median Prices

The post Strong turnover constrained by supply appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

What qualities must an agent demonstrate before you work with them?

Even if you are not yet ready to sell, it is important that you have a trusted and professional real estate agent on your side, because you never know when you may decide to sell.

Research points to four primary qualities to look for:

1. Communication Skills
2. Listening Skills
3. Client Focus
4. Demonstrated Competence

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

An essential quality of an effective real estate agent is being aware of and responding to your communication needs.

The real estate market is fast moving and can be time sensitive, so your agent needs to be able to quickly and effectively communicate changes so you can respond quickly.

A successful agent will be proactive and in contact with you, on your terms and at your convenience.

LISTENING SKILLS

Quality agents take the time to listen and truly understand your unique requirements. If they are doing all of the talking, then they can’t be properly listening to you!

The most important person in any real estate transaction is you. A professional agent will invest the majority of their time in understanding your personal and investment objectives, location and lifestyle requirements, budget and timeline.

Quality questions will deliver quality answers. Check in with the agent to see if they understand your needs or if they are just telling you what you want to hear.

CLIENT FOCUS

The third essential quality in the best professional real estate agents is their focus on you.

The agent should be completely client focused – that means, you should feel like the most important appointment of their day. Most of all, a quality agent is flexible and willing to adapt to your changing needs and circumstances.

DEMONSTRATED COMPETENCE

The best agents are knowledgeable and well informed. Most of all they have a large number of delighted clients and customers who will willingly testify to their competence and the quality of their service. Read the
testimonials and, if you can, speak to some of them.

Another simple test is to phone or call into the office to see how well you are treated and how effectively your enquiry is handled by the office staff.

If you’d like a checklist of what to look for in your perfect agent, go to coxpartners.co.nz or phone our office 06 835-4321 anytime

The post Finding the perfect real estate agent appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

The mail reason is the price. Some sellers don’t realise that the price a buyer is willing to pay is based on the value they perceive. Unfortunately, if the price is wrong a seller could end up thousands of dollars worse off .

Rather than face this reality (the price is wrong) sellers (and to their shame some agents) prefer to rely on five common excuses to explain why their property is not selling. Here they are (so you can avoid them):

First Excuse: PHOTOS. “The photos of our home are not good enough.” Photos don’t sell a property. There’s strong evidence to suggest that the better the photo, the less likely the buyers will buy. Why? Either buyers don’t visit because of something they see in a photo; or the photos make the property look better than it really is – and then when the buyer sees the reality they’re disappointed.

Second Excuse: MORE ADVERTISING. “You need to pay for newspaper advertising.” Don’t pay hundreds of dollars for advertisements that lasts no more than a few days. Internet placements deliver much better value. If your property is for sale, at the right price, buyers will find it.

Third Excuse: OPEN INSPECTIONS. “You need to open your house”. You don’t need hordes of unqualified strangers wandering through your home. Every hour an agent wastes at an open home is an hour the agent could spend productively searching enquiry logs, card boxes, computer lists and other good sources where the right buyers are found.

Forth Excuse: WRONG TIME. “It’s not a good time to sell”. Some agents shut down, but the market never shuts down. Ask any of the hard-working and sensible agents and they’ll often tell you sales are always being made.

Fifth Excuse: WRONG AGENT. “If your property is not selling, there can only be two reasons: the price is too high or the agent is no good.” It’s easy to blame the agent and label them incompetent, especially when other agents are saying if they’d had your property for sale, it would be sold by now. Yes, some agents are better than others, especially when it comes to negotiating the best price for you. Changing agents usually only leads to a sale when the price is changed too.

These days, buyers are much more savvy than they used to be. In the digital age, buyers can get information that tells them what to pay. They can look at the price of every property that has sold in your street. In an instant, they can see every property for sale in your area. If your price is too high, the buyers will know it in seconds.

Please don’t get caught with ‘delay damage’. The general rule is, the longer your property is on the market for sale the lower the price you will get. Avoid the excuses and face the reality of adjusting your price.

The post Avoid excuses! appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

The key driver in Napier is housing demand.

First home buyers taking advantage of recent incentive improvements has lifted demand for homes up to the $350,000 cap by 12% during the past year. Investors, many from outside the region, are competing for these homes looking for better returns than banks or shares can currently offer.

A softening of lending constraints and further easing in interest rates is benefitting sellers in higher price brackets as well. In particular turnover between $400,000 and $600,000 has improved 25% over the past year.

A lack of property available for sale is limiting the scope of potential house sales in the months ahead. At the start of August data from realestate.co.nz shows there were only 384 properties for sale, which is a massive 38% less than the last quarter of 2014.

Improved demand has had a positive effect on prices, which have stabilized. Quotable Value is reporting that prices have improved by 1.9% in Napier compared with the same period last year.  QV’s Quarterly Price index shows that at current levels prices are within 2% of the 2007/2008 market peak.

Well-presented properties in popular localities which are correctly priced are attracting excellent interest, often receiving multiple offers and selling for above average prices.

However, in the background is a series of negative blows affecting economic confidence including slumping dairy prices, an early peak in the Canterbury rebuild, and the negative confidence shock associated with events in Europe. The Reserve Bank and the New Zealand dollar, have both responded to these shocks – with the Bank expected to cut the OCR further in September, and the dollar having depreciated 12% in the past three months.

Napier: Median Prices

Napier: Sales Turnover

The post Housing demand drives turnover upward appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

People who buy before they have sold turn themselves into a “must-sell frustrated vendor” by choice. Anyone forced to sell rapidly is at the mercy of the market. In about 85% of the cases the result is acceptable enough for the seller. The other 15% suffer badly.

Unfortunately the confronting consequences of having to sell ASAP often only dawns on the unprepared homeowner once they have committed themselves to buy elsewhere.

Telling yourself that you will ‘just rent it out if you don’t get you price’ seems practical at first. That’s until you work out that you are paying a mortgage rate of 5% on a property that returns 3% in net rental income!

It’s a better result than a fire sale, but it is a situation better to avoid altogether. It is best to write up a plan prior to buying or selling. Work out time lines, house preparations, which selling agent you will use, solicitors, photos, financier and building inspectors. Interview agents well before you need their services.

You can buy yourself a lot of time by being prepared in advance. Once you are committed to a contract to buy, the clock runs down quickly.

Most homeowners who buy before they sell, do so for two reasons: they have excess confidence that their home will sell quickly and well, and they fear they will be unable to find another suitable replacement home.

The answers to the following questions may help you decide what to do:

Would you rather rent because you sold your home for a high price? or would you prefer to sell your home for a bargain price just because you bought elsewhere and were forced into a quick sale.

Like all markets, the property market is prone to be unpredictable. Generally it is much easier and safer to find a home to buy quickly than it is to find a buyer at your desired price. We recommend that you aim to become a cash-ready buyer rather than a desperate buyer.

What seller wouldn’t talk to a cash buyer willing to pay a fair price?

It might also assist your situation to have a long settlement date in your sales agreement. This will give you some ‘breathing space’ to find another home.

We have a new edition of the popular book “Get the Highest Price for Your Property” available with our complements. Please call us anytime on 835-4321.

The post Bought elsewhere, must sell appeared first on Cox Partners Estate Agents.

Since February 2015 the gap between the benchmark 10 year average monthly turnover has narrowed, which indicates a recovery in demand, which was relatively sluggish over the past 18 months. This stronger growth could be attributed to the lifting of the LVR speed limit to 15% (outside Auckland) coupled with lower interest rates. Further interest rate cuts are expected.

A lack of listings is limiting Napier house sales potential in the months ahead. According to data from realestate.co.nz, listings have been lower than a year earlier for each of the last nine consecutive months.

HomeStart subsidy and larger Kiwisaver withdrawals for first home purchasers since April 2015 has increased activity below $300,000. Investors from outside the region have also increased the demand for more affordably priced homes. However, softening lending constraints and further easing in interest rates has also benefitted sellers in higher price brackets.

Overall prices have only shown marginal improvements, with the latest monthly price index from Quotable Value showing that current prices are on average 1.6% higher than a year earlier.

The quarterly price index shows that at current levels prices are within 2% of the 2007/2008 market peak.

The measure for the average days to remains high at around 8 weeks in June, probably because a number of the properties which sold during the month had been for sale for an extended period of time.

Properties that are located in popular areas, are well-presented and correctly priced are attracting the most interest, often receiving multiple offers and selling for above average prices.

Napier Monthly Median Selling Price

Napier Monthly Sales Volume

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