Recent housing figures in New Zealand reveal that average house prices in the country are now over 25 per cent higher than they were at the market’s previous peak back in 2007.
According to the official NZ government property valuer, Quotable Values, the average price of a home in NZ rose by 9.3 per cent in June 2015 from a year earlier, taking the average property value in the country 25.6 per cent above the previous peak recorded in late 2007.
However, as in previous months, it is rapid price growth in Auckland, the country’s largest region and the area by far most popular with immigrants, which is fuelling the national figure.
House prices in the Auckland region, where there is a significant housing shortage, were 17 per cent higher in the year to June, having recorded a 16.1 per cent rise a month earlier. In fact, in Auckland City itself the average property price has surpassed NZ$1 million for the first time.
Elsewhere, many regions recorded either only minimal growth or price declines. Even the Canterbury region, which had seen consistently strong price growth in recent months as the rebuild of earthquake-damaged Christchurch picks up pace, slowed to 3.2 per cent growth in the year to June, having been 3.8 per cent in May.
Given New Zealand’s, or at least migrant magnet Auckland’s, increasing property prices, it’s arguably more important than ever before for those planning to make a new life for themselves in the country to take advantage of positive exchange rate fluctuations.
When exchanging large lump sums, even only slight fluctuations in the currency exchange markets can have a huge impact on the amount of money you’ll have available to start your new life.
To prove how timing can be key, in the past three months alone, when the exchange rate was at its highest point (on 3rd July), then £1 would have purchased you NZ$2.334 Therefore, if you were exchanging £150,000 – say from the sale of your UK home – then you would have received NZ$351,100.
However, when the rate was at its three-month low (24th April) you would have received an exchange rate of £1=NZ$1.931. On an exchange of £150,000 this would have given you NZ$289,650 – over NZ$60,000 less than you would have received just a couple of months later. Timing really is the key.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a financial whizz kid to make sure you get the best exchange rate – that’s what companies like Halo Financial are there for.
Foreign exchange companies understand why the exchange rates are moving and just what impact this has on your currency transaction. What’s more, they can also explain how to make your money go further and give you a range options on exactly when you wish to exchange, and how much you should exchange at a time.
To find out how you can make sure you can get the best exchange rate possible, take advantage of positive fluctuations in the markets and make sure you start your new life with the most purchasing power possible, visit www.halofinancial.com