All Napier’s market indicators are trending positively. Sales turnover is now averaging over 100 sales per month, which is 10% above the 10 year average. 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 […]

Nearly every home requires a spruce-up before sellers head to market. The complexity and expense of that update has been contentious since the first cave dwellers hand decorated their walls! 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 […]

Mortgage interest rates have fallen rapidly in recent months after the Reserve Bank began cutting the official cash rate in June. Home-owners can now lock in a mortgage for as low as 4.35% for a year if they meet special conditions. According to interest.co.nz, this time last year the average one year fixed term mortgage […]

Sales turnover hit a peak in July with 134 sales. Volumes have eased back during the subsequent months, however, the past quarter has been the strongest since 2007, up a massive 63% on the same quarter last year. This surge in activity appears to be driven by activity in the middle and lower end of […]

Tax can change the outcome of a financial benefit greatly. As the number of property transactions increase, be aware of the changing tax consequences of some property transactions from this month forward. Generally there is no capital gains tax on property sales in New Zealand. However, new rules affect properties purchased from 1st October 2015 and […]

The strong turnover of the prior month continued through August with 128 homes sold according to the latest REINZ data for Napier. Turnover during the past year is now 22% higher than the previous year, and over the past two months sales volumes are at levels last seen in April 2007. Activity in the top […]

Have you considered what makes a the perfect real estate agent? 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 […]

Demand and sales volumes have improved significantly in Napier. We’d expect this strength to eventually help steady prices. Still you may notice there are some properties that aren’t selling. Why is this? The mail reason is the price. Some sellers don’t realise that the price a buyer is willing to pay is based on the […]

The latest REINZ data for Napier shows that July was characterized by very strong sales of 134. This evens out the relatively modest sales of 83 in June. Turnover above 130 in Napier last occurred in February 2008 soon after the market peak, however the market influences now are a little different to then. The […]

Some people seem to have a natural attraction to that special situation called “a rock and a hard place”. Others are nimble market navigators who avoid difficult conditions. The later usually take the time to be informed, seek good advice from trustworthy sources and map a course for the best result. People who buy before […]

For many, home ownership is a dream – and a fabulous goal to have! The most important thing to consider before you buy is affordability. The good news is that because of the combination of low interest rates and relatively affordable property prices in our area, home affordability is currently at it’s best level in years. […]

Being a well informed home buyer is now easier than ever before. There is no doubt that buying (and selling) a home can be an intensely emotional process for some people. The solution to a successful property purchase is knowing where to find the answer for each challenge. The more information you have, the more logic […]

After a strong month in May house sales in Napier eased back to 83 in June, a level which is 9% below the 10 year average. During the past year the sales turnover has improved by over 3%. Since February 2015 the gap between the benchmark 10 year average monthly turnover has narrowed, which indicates […]

Being a well informed home buyer is now easier than ever before. There is no doubt that buying (and selling) a home can be an intensely emotional process for some people. The solution to a low stress successful property purchase is knowing where to find the answer for each challenge. The more information you have, […]

House sales in Napier grew to 110 during May to sit 20% higher than the prior month. Since February 2015 the gap between the benchmark 10 year average monthly turnover has narrowed, which indicates a recovery in demand, which has been sluggish over the past 18 months. This stronger growth could be attributed to the […]

Selecting the right agent can be a challenge if you don’t know how to identify a good real estate agent from one that over-promises and under-delivers. Many people will interview several estate agents and focus on two selection criteria: the price the agent feels the property is worth, and the agent’s selling fee. Unfortunately, using these […]

When selling a home, most people have two conflicting emotions. They want a quick sale, but they’re afraid the property may have been undersold. Given you can only sell your property once, it’s critical you get the highest possible market price. Does the time on market matter when it comes to getting the highest selling […]

The average number of Napier home sales during the past year is sitting at 82 sales, which is 15% below the 10 year average. During the past 3 months sales turnover has shown signs of recovering to levels approximating that 10 year average level. This recovery appears to have been led by an increasing number […]

This month there have been several announcements affecting the housing market, but regional areas like Hawkes Bay are unlikely to experience any significant changes to the status quo. In its six-monthly financial stability report, the Reserve Bank announced its intention to introduce new loan-to-value ratio (LVR) limits on lending to property investors in the Auckland […]

Putting your home on the market takes effort. There is the effort to select the agent; to choose a marketing strategy; to prepare and to present your home throughout the campaign. When you go to all this effort and don’t get an offer, it can be disappointing. It is not that you would simply accept […]