New Zealand: time to buy - TheMoveChannel.com

(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 06, 2009 ) New Zealand - Despite expectations that house prices will continue to fall in the near future, the majority of New Zealanders who took part in a recent survey by kiwi bank ASB are certain that now is a good time to buyÂ…

The ASB housing confidence survey, which charted the three months to the beginning of February this year, found that 53 per cent of people think that now is a good time to be buying a property in New Zealand.

This result was an increase from the 45 per cent of respondents who thought it was the right time to buy in the previous quarter.

Lower interest rates and falling house prices lie behind this Â‘time to buyÂ’ mentality, along with the hope that vendors may be more desperate to sell and thus more open to lower offers and bargaining tools.

First time buyers are also flocking back to the market, eager to get onto the first rung of the ladder in a market that was previously closed to them due to sky high prices. Whilst the lack of readily available mortgage finance is curtailing some buyersÂ’ property dreams, the low consumer confidence seems to be starting to rise once more.

However, despite more than half thinking that now is the time to buy, there is little sign of property transactions rising, possibly due to the lack of urgency that buyers feel as they wait for prices to fall lower still.

The housing confidence survey also revealed that more than 60 per cent of people thought that house prices for New Zealand properties would continue to fall.

ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley said, Â“The lower interest rates may have put a floor under turnover and could help some recovery in housing turnover during the year.

Â“But, we expect house prices to fall for much of this year, though at a slightly more gradual pace than last year,Â” he added.

Is it really the time to buy?

As New Zealand continues to suffer through the global credit crunch and the international outlook worsens, BNZ Chief Economist Tony Alexander took a brave stance and told the New Zealand Herald that the timing is now Â‘perfectÂ’ to buy.

Â“If you are secure in your job and have enough money saved, now is the time to buy,Â” he says.

Â“I wouldnÂ’t be hanging around simply trying to pick the low point in the house-price cycle.

Â“Property sales have probably almost reached their weakest level, and activity is likely to fluctuate and start moving up before the end of the year.

Â“House prices will possibly fall another five per cent, but will stabilise by the end of the year, then rise slightly next year,Â” added Mr Alexander.

For more information on New Zealand property for sale and the market in general, please visit http://new-zealand.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

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For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650

TheMoveChannel.com
Dan Johnson
020 7952 7657
dj@themovechannel.com