Provisional residential data for the Northern Region of New Zealand shows average sale prices continuing to rise, up 17 per cent in January compare to the same period in 2015.
The average price of a property in the region, which includes Auckland, is now NZ$801,472, the figures from Harcourts, New Zealand’s largest real estate group, reveal.
Harcourts CEO Chris Kennedy says this trend is likely to continue into the foreseeable future as demand for housing remains high.
“Population forecasts show Auckland will continue to grow and we currently do not have the construction levels needed to cater for this. Prices will hold or continue to rise,” he explained.
Fuelling demand is a drop in the number of new listings. In January there were 431 houses listed for sale with Harcourts compared with 588 in January 2015 – a 26.7 per cent drop.
There has also been a 10.8 per cent drop in the total number of houses currently for sale, down from 1,666 in January 2015 to 1,486 this year.
Bearing in mind that Auckland is by far and away the most popular region in New Zealand for newcomers to settle in, if you’re planning on calling the country’s largest city your home in the near future, the you are going to need to do everything you can to make every pound – or NZ Dollar – towards your house purchase count.
One simple way you can make a substantial saving – or rather gain – is to get the best exchange rate possible when the time comes to changing your Pounds to Dollars.
Put simply, when exchanging large lump sums, only small fluctuations in exchange rates can have a huge impact on how much money you’ll end up with.
For example, imagine you managed to sell your property in the UK three months ago and had £150,000 to spend. If you had exchanged immediately, then on 10th November you would have received NZ$2.30 for every £1 exchanged – making a total of NZ$345,000. However, if you had of decided to wait a few months to see if the rate would rise, then you will have been disappointed. As of 5th February the rate was down to £1=NZ$2.18 – or just NZ$327,000; a not unsubstantial NZ$18,000 less.
Of course, there is no guarantee of choosing the absolute best time to exchange. But taking expert advice from a specialist currency exchange firm like Halo Financial can certainly help.
Foreign exchange companies understand why the exchange rates are moving and just what impact this has on your currency transaction so can give you at least some indication of when the market could move favourably. What’s more, they can also provide you with a range of options on when you should consider exchanging, and how much you should exchange at a time.
To find out how you can make sure you can take advantage of positive fluctuations in the market and exchange your currency at the right time to get the best possible deal on the purchase your overseas property, visit www.halofinancial.com