“A room full of guests, laughter and raised glasses: toasting the future” — a look back at the 2023 Christmas reception

On 27 November, the 2023 Christmas reception, jointly presented by Barfoot & Thompson, Meredith Connell (MC), BNZ, the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association and YIJU New Zealand, was held in style at the MC Centre. Nearly a hundred professionals from Auckland’s construction, property, finance and legal sectors attended, sharing laughter and celebrating together.

Naturally, the Christmas reception also featured fine food and wine.

The evening began with a warm welcome from Frank Xu, president of the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association.

Frank Xu, president of the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association

Frank said Auckland’s average house price had fallen from its peak of NZ$1,570,000 in January 2022 to a low in June 2023, and currently stood at around NZ$1,316,000. For the construction industry, 2023 had been an extremely difficult year for developers and builders.

However, the market had received some positive news over the past month, with Auckland house prices rising for 3 consecutive months. He hoped this positive trend would continue into the new year and that the new government’s housing policies would be more favourable to investors and homeowners. The construction market was also improving, with many architectural design consultants reporting that business had gradually picked up in recent months, while developers had begun considering restarting projects.

Frank noted that recent market data showed New Zealand’s housing recovery was gathering momentum. More buyers were returning to the market, which was expected to put upward pressure on property prices in the coming months. Auckland rents had risen by more than 8% this year. Many first-home buyers had made good use of lower house prices and higher deposit proportions, with strong job security, good pay and recently eased lending conditions helping them buy their first homes more easily. The new government’s forthcoming policies would also draw more investors back to the market. Population growth and housing demand would be the main drivers in 2024, while persistently high interest rates would restrain future house price growth to some extent.

 

Frank then invited another leading figure, Barfoot & Thompson general manager Grant Sykes, to the stage to review this year’s property market and discuss the outlook for next year.

Grant Sykes

Grant said Barfoot & Thompson chairman Peter Thompson had commented in his October monthly report that Auckland’s residential property market had taken a confident step towards recovery. Sales volumes were increasing alongside new listings. In October, both Auckland’s median and average sale prices exceeded NZ$1,000,000 for the first time since March 2023. Throughout August and September, there had been positive signs of a market turnaround. By October, those signs had come together, showing the market was moving in a positive direction. Sellers had returned in force, with 1829 new listings that month, 25% above September and 33% higher than the same period last year. Buyers were also ready to act, with 846 sales in October, the highest monthly total in nearly three years and a third higher than the same period last year.

On the outlook, Grant said: “Overall, we are returning to a typical seasonal market. Increasing listings are giving buyers plenty of choice, so there will be no ‘FOMO’. Essentially, although listings are increasing, prices remain stable. The data we have gathered over the past sixty or seventy years tells us that, after each period of quantitative easing or downturn, the market tends to return strongly, and the recovery lasts longer than the slump. That does not mean the pain is over. We are simply seeing a brighter light at the end of the tunnel, particularly compared with this time last year.”

“With the new coalition government taking office and policy changes on the way, we expect this to help improve overall economic conditions and have a positive impact on the property market, although that will take time.”

“Overall, we believe next year’s market will be stable, with property sales volumes continuing to grow steadily and values making steady, modest gains. We do not expect major changes in house prices, as we need to wait for the economy to improve gradually. Significant price changes will come particularly when the interest rate cycle turns down and gives homeowners access to lower funding costs.”

Next, Meredith Connell partner Royal Reed (Wang Junzun) gave a brief presentation on asset protection.

Royal Reed

Royal said that, as wealth accumulates, it is very important to understand how to protect assets, properly plan the limited companies, trusts or wills within an existing asset protection structure, and secure legal protection through effective management.

New Zealand introduced its new trust legislation two years ago. Understanding the new law and updating existing trusts accordingly are also duties of trustees. As one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded law firms, Meredith Connell offers clients a comprehensive range of services and welcomes enquiries.

Linan Dai

BNZ business partner Linan Dai explained the bank’s different commercial property lending options to help industry professionals plan their funding in advance. Linan also introduced trade finance, import and export trade finance, and invoice financing. As one of New Zealand’s four major banks, BNZ’s strong team will continue to provide quality service.

YIJU New Zealand thanks our business partners for their continued support, along with all our friends who enjoy and follow YIJU New Zealand. We wish you all a very merry Christmas in advance!