The latest monthly QV House Price Index shows that New Zealand residential property values for December increased by 12.5 per cent over the past year.
The data shows that property values rose by 1.3 per cent over the past three months and are now 51.5 per cent above the previous market peak of late 2007.
The Auckland market has increased 12.2 per cent year on year which is the slowest rate since January 2015. Property values in the country’s largest City are now 91.6 per cent higher than the previous peak of 2007.
QV National Spokesperson Andrea Rush said, “December saw a continuation of the trend of a slowing rate of value growth, activity and demand. This trend has been seen in many of the main centres since the introduction of the new Loan to Vale Rates (LVRs), which require a minimum 40 per cent deposit for investment properties.”
Rush continued: “This coupled with the annual Christmas holiday period slow-down has led to a decrease in values in some parts of Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch since November. However, in Wellington values continue to rise faster than in Auckland but at a slightly slower rate than prior to the LVRs being introduced.
“Meanwhile in Dunedin there has so far been no evident slowing in the housing market because of the new LVRs and value levels continue to increase and sales activity has remained strong throughout the Christmas period.”
With NZ property prices at an all-time high in many regions, it is essential that anyone moving to the country starts their new life with the largest amount of NZ Dollars they can.
One simple way you can make a substantial gain is to get the best exchange rate possible when the time comes to changing your Pounds to NZ 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 October you would have received NZ$1.738 for every £1 exchanged – making a total of NZ$260,700. However, if you had waited until early December to see if the rate would rise, then you will have been pleased. As of 6th December, the rate had climbed to £1=NZ$1.791 – or just NZ$268,650; a rise of almost NZ$8,000.
However, had you then decided to wait to see if the rate would rise again then as of last yesterday you would have received a figure between the two aforementioned rates: NZ$1.747 for £1.
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, visit www.halofinancial.com
Article published 11th January 2017