Auckland; house price doubles in 6 months

[macfarlan]

Guardian article reports dodgy goings on in Red hot property market;

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/18/flipping-hell-new-zealand-property-frenzy-as-two-houses-sold-five-times-in-four-days

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

I just come back from NZ, it makes the UK look cheap. Even in st sticks it's expensive!

[TheCountOfNowhere]

14 minutes ago, Wurzel Of Highbridge said:

I just come back from NZ, it makes the UK look cheap. Even in st sticks it's expensive!

Crazy.  Small country at the ar*e end of the world.  What is driving this speculative frenzy ?

Just seen a house listed in Nortrhants thats almost double what we offered on it a couple of years ago.

Our offer was over the odds then, so I've no idea wnhat planet they are on now. 

It's gone proper mental.

[SurgeonGeneral]

I'm in Wellington and it is unaffordable. 

Back to UK! 

[Nabby81]

19 minutes ago, TheCountOfNowhere said:

Crazy.  Small country at the ar*e end of the world.  What is driving this speculative frenzy ?

Just seen a house listed in Nortrhants thats almost double what we offered on it a couple of years ago.

Our offer was over the odds then, so I've no idea wnhat planet they are on now. 

It's gone proper mental.

It is indeed mental , and its sure as hell not increase in wages driving it 

[PropertyMania]

NZ abolished stamp duty in 1999 so flipping looks a lot less bonkers. In the Spanish boom people were flipping with 10%+ flat rates of stamp duty (plus other costs) 

[The Masked Tulip]

Chinese money.

[The Masked Tulip]

Dodgy Chinese money?

[steve99]

1 hour ago, TheCountOfNowhere said:

Crazy.  Small country at the ar*e end of the world.  What is driving this speculative frenzy ?

Just seen a house listed in Nortrhants thats almost double what we offered on it a couple of years ago.

Our offer was over the odds then, so I've no idea wnhat planet they are on now. 

It's gone proper mental.

What is driving this speculative frenzy ?

 nothing its a speculative frenzy, zero fundamental factors involved, pure insanity.

Exactly the same in most of Australia and has been for 15 years or so now. Far worse than UK

[Wayward]

Is supply restricted..?  I don't get it.  We know supply in the UK is deliberately restricted to keep the property owning classes wealthy but why would they tolerate this tyranny in NZ and Oz..? 

What is it with English speaking common wealth countries...?  Do I really have to migrate to Spain to escape this oppression?

[Impatiently Waiting]

When you read things like this does no one else worry that prices in the U.K. could still go even higher / more mental?

 

Granted London and the SE England is already pretty mental but the North and Scotland are still at 2007 prices. I'm in Glasgow and prices haven't moved much in a decade. I believe Edinburgh is the same. Aberdeen went daft with oil prices but has dropped in the last 18 months or so.

 

My fear is that with the weak pound, overseas investors will move away from London and start pushing up prices in other major UK cities. Is this likely?

 

If you were an overseas investor why invest in overpriced London when the rest of the U.K. os cheap and thanks to the devaluation of sterling is now ~20% cheaper that's 6 months ago. Places like Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh etc must be ripe for it.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

3 hours ago, steve99 said:

What is driving this speculative frenzy ?

Evil, unregulated bankers who I have no doubt have cashed in their chips and are now long gone.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

1 minute ago, Impatiently Waiting said:

When you read things like this does no one else worry that prices in the U.K. could still go even higher / more mental?

 

Granted London and the SE England is already pretty mental but the North and Scotland are still at THE MENTAL 2007 prices

 

[bobbo]

New Zealand and Australian houses are a so much bigger than UK houses. Often coming with big gardens and sometimes swimming pools. Although no doubt it's hot professional wages are good. 

[Impatiently Waiting]

1 minute ago, TheCountOfNowhere said:

 

Of course they are still mental. Mental when you look at average salaries, employment rates and size etc. They are however cheaper to finance than in 2007 due to the criminally low interest rates. So in terms of affordability they are cheaper.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

2 minutes ago, Impatiently Waiting said:

My fear is that with the weak pound, overseas investors will move away from London and start pushing up prices in other major UK cities. Is this likely?

 

Someone's already been doing this, "investors" were hoovering up everything 12 months ago around northants.  I've seem some stuff going round northants for 2007+50% prices.  The 2007 prices were only achieved by a small number of "lucky" sales too. 

A listing on rightmove this week is for a house  at almost double what we offered on it after it didnt sell for 3 years+, it sold when HTB/FLS kicked in for full asking price ( I suspect from a savvy London buyer with wads full of free cash ).  They obvious expect the same return as they got in London in 3 years, who the f**k is going to buy it off them at that price is beyond me.

I thought we were over paying when we offered 50% less than they are asking now and that had the potential to cripple us and we are well off, especially in the shires.

It really is a mad speculative frenzy, all being funded by our taxes of course, someone somewhere is profitting massively from this.

Collapse is all but inevitable and I am now of the impression we, the government I mean, should ultimately actually publicly hang a few bankers as a warning to them.  The only thing in their favor is, hangings too good for them.

 

[nome]

53 minutes ago, bobbo said:

New Zealand and Australian houses are a so much bigger than UK houses. Often coming with big gardens and sometimes swimming pools. Although no doubt it's hot professional wages are good. 

I'd disagree with properties there being bigger, from all the ones I've seen on A New Life Down Under the properties are no bigger than a typical UK 3 bed semi and the gardens are nothing but tiny yards with 6ft high fencing all around and often overlooked on all sides.

Even the burbs down under seem to have prices similar to South East/Home Counties in the UK... i.e. starting at £400k GBP for an average size, average condition 3 bed.

[Tempus]

1 hour ago, Impatiently Waiting said:

When you read things like this does no one else worry that prices in the U.K. could still go even higher / more mental?

Granted London and the SE England is already pretty mental but the North and Scotland are still at 2007 prices. I'm in Glasgow and prices haven't moved much in a decade. I believe Edinburgh is the same. Aberdeen went daft with oil prices but has dropped in the last 18 months or so.

My fear is that with the weak pound, overseas investors will move away from London and start pushing up prices in other major UK cities. Is this likely?

If you were an overseas investor why invest in overpriced London when the rest of the U.K. os cheap and thanks to the devaluation of sterling is now ~20% cheaper that's 6 months ago. Places like Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh etc must be ripe for it.

Is it likely? If they think there's money to be made, it's likely...

"Edinburgh office market sees surge in overseas buyers

Terry Murden, Editor | January 16, 2017

Overseas investors are pouring more money into the Edinburgh office market as buyers take advantage of a low pound and avoid high prices in London. More than 90% of deals were funded through international investment, according to research from property firm JLL." 

http://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2017/01/edinburgh-office-market-sees-surge-in-overseas-buyers/

[bobbo]

37 minutes ago, nome said:

I'd disagree with properties there being bigger, from all the ones I've seen on A New Life Down Under the properties are no bigger than a typical UK 3 bed semi and the gardens are nothing but tiny yards with 6ft high fencing all around and often overlooked on all sides.

Even the burbs down under seem to have prices similar to South East/Home Counties in the UK... i.e. starting at £400k GBP for an average size, average condition 3 bed.

From all the ones you've seen on TV? A quick Google  http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house  new houses in the UK are 76m2 against Australia's 214m2. About a third the size.  That excludes the garden and garage. 

Seriously. 

[TheCountOfNowhere]

2 hours ago, Tempus said:

Is it likely? If they think there's money to be made, it's likely...

"Edinburgh office market sees surge in overseas buyers

Terry Murden, Editor | January 16, 2017

Overseas investors are pouring more money into the Edinburgh office market as buyers take advantage of a low pound and avoid high prices in London. More than 90% of deals were funded through international investment, according to research from property firm JLL." 

http://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2017/01/edinburgh-office-market-sees-surge-in-overseas-buyers/

Housing Crisis.

British government allowing over seas investors to buy UK property.

And still the young do nothing !!!

[ExiledMatty]

I am in Auckland now and if it wasn't for the lack of smog, you'd think you were in China.

Lots of money pouring into NZ from all over Asia as it's considered very safe and not corrupt.

Notable how many more Indians are here too. They usually come stacked with cash too. Huge Asian middle classes are roaming much more now.

Expat friend of mine in Auckland has a well paid job but can only afford to rent a studio downtown. No hope of buying.

If you are considering a move to NZ you'll need a lot of £s and a good job lined up.

[Saving For a Space Ship]

Island at the top of the world Bubble 

https://illustractiongallery.com/1190-large/island-at-the-top-of-the-world--the.jpg

[reddog]

I don't get it, I know a number of kiwis who I have worked with in the IT sector.  Most come to the UK because there is not enough high end IT work in NZ.  One friend had to go back to NZ for family reasons and ended up being unemployed for a while, before getting a worse job than he had in the UK.

 

If the UK job market looks good to you, there is no way your home country should be having a housing boom!!

[ExiledMatty]

Wages are still low here compared to the cost of living. They probably look ok if you convert to £s, but £s don't go very far here.

I cannot think of anything that's actually cheaper here apart from the sushi shops. You need a mortgage to shop in a pharmacy and a trip to the GP will set you back £50. As for pubs and bars, little wonder they are all closing down.

[wish I could afford one]

9 hours ago, Wayward said:

...

What is it with English speaking common wealth countries...?  Do I really have to migrate to Spain to escape this oppression?

That's one of the locations I'm looking to be in by late summer.